For the better part of the past two months, I’ve been fortunate enough thanks to Keithley and element14 to have the opportunity to RoadTest the Keithley 2450 SourceMeter with I-V Tracer app.
Source Measurement Units (SMUs) are highly integrated, high-precision, four-quadrant sources with metering, allowing for easy testing of voltage and current, positive or negative. This is particularly applicable in testing semiconductor devices (e.g. I-V curve tests), non-linear devices and electrochemical cells to name a few applications. These instruments do command a high price compared to conventional power supplies, but in return, they offer some testing capabilities which far exceed that of even performance power supplies and also improve workflow by reducing set-up complexity.
Needless to say, I’ve been hoping to have the chance to RoadTest an SMU since it was first put onto the RoadTest program back in 2013, but I missed out in that round. Luckily, this time around I was selected. For the past two months, I’ve been working diligently in my spare time to evaluate the SMU as well as the I-V Tracer app (including producing this short video).
Unfortunately, the review unit I have appears to have a hardware fault which affects its ability to properly source in the 200V range and may have other flow-on effects as well. I have been in contact with Keithley/Tektronix who are in the process of working something out, but unfortunately, not prior to the review window expiring. To ensure I meet the program requirements and in the interests of full transparency, I thought it best to deliver a comprehensive review in spite of these issues, with an update into the future as the issues are resolved.
Read the full review summary here on element14 Community Forums
Or read the in-depth blog posts:
- Ch1 – Intro to SMUs & Market Survey
- Ch2 – Unboxing Introduction
- Ch3 – User Experience & Documentation
- Ch4 – Remote Interfaces & Programmability
- Ch5 – KickStart 2 & I-V Characterizer
- Ch6 – I-V Tracer App Comparison
- Ch7 – Instrument Performance Tests
or download the PDF ZIP backup archive (14.5MiB).
Putting seriousness aside for a moment, can your instrument do this?