Application Note: Modernizing a Legacy Military Avionics Test System with a Programmable GaGe High-Speed Digitizer
Introduction Across military and aerospace maintenance operations, many proven test systems remain in service decades after their original deployment. These systems often support critical certification procedures, validated workflows, and platform-specific compliance tests that are costly or impractical to replace. While the airframes and missions may evolve, the test infrastructure built around them often remains indispensable. The challenge arises when key instruments inside those systems become obsolete. Aging oscilloscopes, digitizers, controllers, and interface hardware can create maintenance burdens, calibration issues, and long-term support risks. Replacing them is rarely simple. In regulated or mission-critical environments, a modern instrument must not only [...]
Application Note: Improving Optical Measurements Through High-Speed Data Acquisition
Introduction Advances in optical engineering are driving the need for faster, more accurate data acquisition systems. Whether characterizing laser pulses, measuring fiber optic sensors, or analyzing highspeed optical communications, today’s photonics applications generate electrical signals that demand exceptional sampling performance and timing accuracy. While the optical source may be light, the measurement ultimately depends on capturing an electrical waveform produced by a photodiode or other optical detector. Preserving the integrity of that waveform is critical, as lost detail or timing errors can directly affect measurement accuracy, image quality, or system performance. High-speed PCIe digitizers provide the bandwidth, memory depth, [...]
Whitepaper: Choosing the Right Data Acquisition Architecture for Photonics Applications
Introduction Photonics has become one of the fastest-growing fields in engineering, enabling advances in autonomous vehicles, optical communications, medical imaging, aerospace, semiconductor manufacturing, and quantum technologies. As these systems continue to evolve, engineers are challenged to capture increasingly complex optical signals while maintaining exceptional measurement accuracy, repeatability, and timing precision. At the heart of every optical measurement system is a detector that converts light into an electrical signal. The quality of the resulting data depends not only on the detector itself, but also on the architecture used to acquire, process, and analyze that signal. Selecting the appropriate data acquisition [...]
Application Note: Wafer & Thin-Film Stress Characterization Using the Proforma 300iSA
Introduction Thin films are essential to modern semiconductor devices, but every deposited, grown, bonded, or processed layer can introduce mechanical stress into the wafer. When that stress becomes excessive or inconsistent, the effects can extend well beyond the deposition step—contributing to wafer bow, cracking, delamination, overlay error, handling problems, yield loss, and downstream process instability. The MTI Instruments Proforma™ 300iSA semi-automated metrology system provides the full-wafer thickness and shape data needed to evaluate these risks. By measuring wafer geometry before and after a process step, engineers can quantify curvature change and use established film-stress relationships to calculate and trend [...]
Engine Balancing in the Digital Age: Unlocking Faster, Smarter MRO with Integrated Aircraft Data
Introduction Modern aircraft engines generate vast amounts of operational data, yet much of this information has historically remained under utilized during maintenance procedures like vibration balancing. As fleets transition to digitally connected avionics architectures, MRO teams are rethinking how they access and apply engine data to improve efficiency and accuracy. By leveraging direct integration with onboard data networks, today’s vibration balancing systems can streamline setup, reduce dependency on external instrumentation, and deliver faster, more reliable results—ultimately helping operators minimize downtime and maintain peak engine performance. The Role of Engine Vibration Balancing MRO Jet engines operate under extreme mechanical stress, [...]
Understanding Semiconductor Wafer Stress: A Practical Guide to Thin-Film Stress, Wafer Curvature Measurement & Process Control
Introduction Every semiconductor device begins with a nearly perfect wafer. Yet throughout fabrication, that wafer is repeatedly transformed by dozens of manufacturing processes including thin-film deposition, oxidation, implantation, annealing, polishing, and packaging. While each process is designed to modify the electrical properties of the device, it also alters something far less visible—its mechanical condition. The addition of every thin film introduces internal mechanical forces that can subtly change the shape of the wafer. These changes, often measured in only a few micrometers across a 200 mm or 300 mm substrate, may appear insignificant. However, as semiconductor devices continue to [...]
Whitepaper: Oscilloscopes vs Digitizers: Choosing the Right Platform for Wideband Signal Acquisition
Introduction As signal environments become faster, more complex, and more data-intensive, engineers need acquisition tools that match the demands of modern testing. Whether validating next-generation communications systems, capturing radar pulses, analyzing ultrasound returns, or troubleshooting electronics, the quality of captured data directly impacts design confidence and test accuracy. Two of the most common signal acquisition platforms are oscilloscopes and digitizers. While both sample electrical signals and convert them into digital data, they are designed for different workflows. Oscilloscopes excel in interactive debugging and real-time waveform visualization. Digitizers are optimized for sustained acquisition, deep memory capture, system integration, and high-performance [...]
Application Note: Replace Three Legacy Systems with One: Modernizing Aerospace/Defense Test Cells with PBS eXpress GalleryApplication Note: Replace Three Legacy Systems with One: Modernizing Aerospace/Defense Test Cells with PBS eXpress
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Application Note: Replace Three Legacy Systems with One: Modernizing Aerospace/Defense Test Cells with PBS eXpress
Introduction Many military/defense and commercial aerospace test cells still rely on aging analog instruments that, while functional, introduces risk through calibration challenges, legacy components, and lack of digital data access. As testing demands evolve, the industry is moving toward compact, digital platforms that simplify workflows and improve data usability. A Vitrek customer faced this challenge across multiple engine test cells. Their solution: replace two legacy systems with a single PBS eXpress R+, enabling faster setup, digital data acquisition, and automated reporting. The Challenge The customer’s test cells were built around a mix of aging instrumentation, including TrigTek tracking filters, [...]
Application Note: Why Charge Amplifiers Remain Essential in Aerospace Test Systems
Introduction Many aerospace test programs rely on charge-output piezoelectric accelerometers, force sensors, and dynamic pressure transducers because of their wide frequency response, rugged construction, and ability to capture rapidly changing events. These sensors generate extremely small electrical charge signals—often measured in picocoulombs (pC)—that are susceptible to cable capacitance effects, electrical noise, leakage currents, and environmental influences that can compromise measurement accuracy. Charge amplifiers address these challenges by converting the sensor’s high-impedance charge output into a stable, low impedance voltage signal suitable for transmission, recording, and analysis. By making measurements largely independent of cable capacitance while maintaining low noise, stable [...]
Application Note: Accessing Digital Engine Data for Multi-Platform Aircraft Balancing with MTI PBS Systems GalleryApplication Note: Accessing Digital Engine Data for Multi-Platform Aircraft Balancing with MTI PBS Systems
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Application Note: Accessing Digital Engine Data for Multi-Platform Aircraft Balancing with MTI PBS Systems
Introduction Modern aircraft engines are no longer dependent solely on discrete analog sensors for critical performance data. Increasingly, vibration amplitudes, phase information, and engine speed are transmitted digitally through aircraft data buses such as ARINC 429 and ARINC 664 Part 7 (AFDX). Yet in many MRO environments, balancing systems continue to rely on accelerometers and tachometer pickups—introducing additional setup time, cabling complexity, and potential variability in measurements. This disconnect between available digital data and traditional measurement approaches creates inefficiencies, particularly for facilities servicing multiple aircraft platforms. For organizations supporting a diverse fleet, the opportunity is clear: leverage the aircraft’s [...]