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ScanImage installations employ from 1 to 3 National Instruments data acquistion boards. The first board (required) is used for mirror control and PMT acquisition. The (optional) second and third boards are used for Pockels Cell control and photodiode signal inputs, as required.

Mirror/Acquisition Board

This board must support an Analog Input rate of 1.25MHz or higher and have 2 Analog Output channels.

  • The PCI-6110, PCI-6111, and PCI-6115 are only known boards to satisfy these criteria.
    The PCI-6115 has a higher AI sampling rate which is not utilized by ScanImage. Thus either the PCI-6110 or PCI-6111 is recommended.
    If more than 2 PMT inputs are to be used, the PCI-6110 (or PCI-6115) must be used.
    Analog Input channels not used for PMT input signals can be used for photodiode input signals (employed for Pockels Cell, or other light modulator, calibration).

Pockels Cell and Photodiode Board(s)

ScanImage supports 1-3 'beams' consisting of Pockels Cells (or other light modulators) determining the laser intensity for each. Each beam requires one Analog Output (AO) channel and, optionally, one Analog Input (AI) channel for a photodiode signal used to calibrate the light modulator.

At least one additional board is required to support the (optional) Pockels Cell and photodiode calibration functionality. The board(s) can be selected from one of four National Instruments product series:

  • Multifunction DAQ (M) Series
    • PCI-6221 has 2 AO channels. Also available in a 37-pin version, lowering connectivity costs.
    • PCI-6229 has 4 AO channels.
    • PCI-6251 and PCI-6259 are also suitable, with excess capabilities beyond current ScanImage functionality. These are available in PCI Express and USB versions.
  • Analog Output (AO) Series
    • PCI-6711 has 4 AO channels (and no AI channels).
    • PCI-6713 has 8 AO channels (and no AI channels)
  • Multifunction DAQ (E) Series
    • PCI-6040E contains 2 AO channels and 8 AI channels.

The X Series options are the best choice for new users, as they have more advanced counter/timer capabilities than the M series without costing more. Several of the new features in ScanImage r3.7 (Frame/Line/Pixel clock generation, Next Triggering, etc.) require these advanced counter/timer capabilities. Note that all X Series options require a PCIe (PCI Express) slot available in your computer.
The M Series options are the best choice if no PCIe slots are available, or to absolutely minimize the cost (e.g. the PCI-6221 37 pin version).
The AO Series and E Series options should not be used for new installations. They are being supported/mentioned for legacy users only. While older and less functional, they are now offered at a higher price than M Series and X Series options.

If 3 beams are used, then one of the 4 channel options must be selected (e.g. the X series 6323 or M series 6229 or 6259).
If an AO Series board is used, then photodiode input channels per beam should either be 1) omitted, 2) input on primary mirror/acquisition board (provided channels are available), or 3) input on a third board which contains input channels.

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