The hardware that controls the Picometer Ellipsometer is designed to be easy to use while being highly flexible and reliable. The user always has direct control over all measurement parameters.

Analog controls have been retained where they provide the most comfortable way of accessing instrument parameters, as for the settings of the lock-in amplifiers and the ellipsometer arms.

All components are interfaced to the host computer through a microcontroller that acts as an independent instrument controller and data logger. The microcontroller ensures true real-time operation and minimizes the risk of data loss by keeping a copy of the last measured data until it has been saved by the host computer.

Microcontroller and host computer are linked by a standard serial connection, which makes it easy to run the Picometer Ellipsometer from notebook computers without the need of extra hardware.