Source Measure Units (SMUs) are versatile instruments developed at the advent of semiconductors to characterize their complex behavior. Key capabilities of a SMU include 4-quadrant operation, precision measurement and sourcing, and high speed. These capabilities make SMUs similar to a range of other test and measurement equipment, yet different in meaningful ways. This blog explores some of the …
Semiconductor manufacturers, validation engineers and reliability engineers can now get faster test script development while automating Keithley test instruments such as SMUs, DAQs or DMMs by downloading the Keithley TSP Toolkit Beta, the new TSP (Test Script Processor) script development environment, which takes the form of a Visual Studio Code extension. In this blog, we’ll explore TSP …
It’s easy to think of a battery as a bucket full of energy. When we would like some energy, we connect our circuit and pour the energy out. However, this analogy doesn’t account for internal impedance. A better analogy is that batteries are like water bottles. When a water bottle is tipped over, the water cannot flow out freely because a nozzle restricts the flow. Similarly, a battery has internal …
Adaptive Power Optimization is Revolutionizing PMICs
“There is no better way to save energy and cut bills than by turning all electronic devices off.”
This basic piece of advice is the underlying principle and philosophy behind any form of energy management applied to energy consumption optimization, and in general in so-called adaptive power optimization.
In the case of battery powered …
While the types of electrical tests required during the design and production of power conversion equipment are similar to those required for previous generations of devices, the adoption of wide-bandgap materials like silicon carbide (SiC) or gallium nitride (GaN) requires added rigor and new test strategies.
Bench testing continues to play an important role at every stage of the development of …
A new generation of wide-bandgap (WBG) materials such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) are becoming more prevalent. Electrically, these substances are closer to insulators than silicon and other typical semiconductor materials. Their adoption is an effort to overcome limitations of silicon that stem from it being a narrow bandgap material, which leads to undesirable conductive …
Keithley’s line of Touch Test Invent™ graphical Instruments have the ability to locally run custom scripts written in the Test Script Processor (TSP™) language. These scripts allow the instrument to execute code in real time written by you.
The example script provided allows a 2400 Series Graphical SMU to function as a power supply by outputting a constant wattage. A traditional power supply …
Current markets are leading to high demand for battery cells. One way for manufacturers to increase throughput is to reduce the time spent making each battery. The formation and aging stage is the most time consuming part of the cell manufacturing process. Ensuring that the right equipment is used for the job can help with some of the challenges facing formation and aging.
What is Formation and …
Keithley's Touchscreen User Interface
Keithley’s Touch, Test, Invent® touchscreen products feature the same look and feel thanks to their UI, referred to as the TTI interface. This custom interface, developed by Keithley engineers, makes it incredibly simple to use the instruments and analyze data right in the box. The TTI interface can be found with Keithley’s Source Measure Units (SMUs), some …
Energy storage device testing is not the same as battery testing. There are, in fact, several devices that are able to convert chemical energy into electrical energy and store that energy, making it available when required.
Capacitors are energy storage devices; they store electrical energy and deliver high specific power, being charged, and discharged in shorter time than batteries, yet with …