CIE Components in Electronics
Keithley Instruments has introduced seven instrumentation, software, and test fixture configurations for parametric curve tracing applications designed for characterising high power devices at up to 3,000V and 100A. They have been optimised to provide a cost-effective solution for characterising the growing number of high power semiconductor devices, including those based on silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) technology.
These systems offer the power required for the vast majority of high power device design and development applications, and have been optimised to address the characterisation and test needs of research, reliability, failure analysis, and power device applications engineers; power device designers and incoming inspection technicians.
Lee Stauffer, a Keithley staff technologist, notes, “Many power device developers have told us they like the dynamic range and ease of use of a traditional curve tracer, but they know they need more flexibility in configuring the measurement channels, as well as the accuracy, capability, and graphical user interface that a modern parametric analyzer offers.”
In sharp contrast with solutions that require all instrumentation to be housed in a chassis, all seven Keithley configurations offer the flexibility to add new measurement channels economically as users’ needs evolve, with no need to return the system to the factory to install new hardware.
All seven configurations include the latest version of Keithley’s ACS (Automated Characterization Suite) Basic Edition software, which supports Keithley’s newest SMUs and takes maximum advantage of the Series 2600B’s TSP-Link connection trigger model, which allows for 500ns trigger synchronisation between instruments. This tighter synchronisation capability maximises the high speed pulse mode capabilities of the new Model 2651A and Model 2657A High Power System SourceMeter instruments. The Windows-compatible ACS Basic Edition package provides control and analysis tools well-suited for high power device characterization, including complete parametric test libraries for MOSFETs, BJTs, triacs, diodes, IGBTs, and other device types.
The software’s “trace” mode, which uses an on-screen slider control that works much like the power control knob on a traditional analogue curve tracer, allows users to control the level of voltage and current levels sourced interactively and to see how the power device responds in real time. The software’s “parametric” mode provides a “fill-in-the-blanks” GUI to configure a test precisely and a comprehensive set of tools for precise parameter extraction. All seven bundles also include all cabling and adapters required for system assembly, as well as a number of sample power devices useful for training and demonstration purposes.
