Keithley Instruments, Inc. has introduced three new economical source measurement unit (SMU) instruments suited for bench top and R&D applications to its Series 2600B System SourceMeter SMU Instrument line. The test and measurement industry’s most powerful, fastest, and highest resolution SMU instruments now provide 6-1/2-digit resolution, software emulation of Keithley’s widely installed Model 2400 SourceMeter instrument and USB 2.0 connectivity.
The Series 2600B SMU line offers both single- and dual-channel models that combine the capabilities of a precision power supply, true current source, 6-1/2-digit multi-meter, arbitrary waveform generator, pulse generator, and electronic load in one tightly integrated instrument. The result is a powerful range of solutions that offer industry-leading productivity in applications ranging from bench top I-V characterization to highly automated production test.
The Series 2600B line provides a variety of features that enhance its performance and make it easier to use:
- 6-1/2-digit measurement resolution. This allows Series 2600B instruments to provide industry-leading resolution. This higher level of resolution lets users discern smaller changes in their measurements.
- Model 2400 software emulation. This enables an easier upgrade from Model 2400-based test systems to Series 2600B, and can improve overall test times by as much as 80%. In addition, it provides a migration path from SCPI programming to Keithley’s TSP technology, which can improve test times even more. For complete support of legacy test systems, the Model 2400s Source-Memory List test command sequencer is also fully supported.
- USB communications with an external controller. A back-panel USB 2.0 connector expands the interface options available for communicating with an external PC. Series 2600B instruments give users the widest variety of PC communication busses from which to choose: USB, LAN/LXI, GPIB, and RS232. The addition of the USB connector offers users the flexibility to choose quick, economical, and easy-to-set-up PC communications.
- Embedded Plug & Play I-V Testing. This built-in software boosts productivity across a wide range of applications, including R&D, student labs, quality assurance/failure analysis, and many others. Users can easily make a web connection to a Series 2600B instrument with the supplied LAN cable, open a browser, enter the instrument’s IP address, and begin characterizing materials or components immediately. Results can be downloaded to a spreadsheet for further analysis or imported into a document or presentation.
The Series 2600B line builds upon the capabilities of its predecessor, the Series 2600A line, with which it is fully backward compatible. Key productivity features include the Series 2600Bs onboard Test Script Processor (TSP), which embeds complete test programs into non-volatile memory within the instrument itself to provide the industry’s highest test throughput by eliminating the GPIB traffic problems common to systems dependent on an external PC controller. In addition, for large, multi-channel applications, Keithley’s TSP-Link inter-unit communication and expansion bus works in tandem with the TSP to enable high speed, SMU-per-pin parallel testing. Because Series 2600B instrument channels are fully isolated and do not require a mainframe, they can be easily reconfigured and re-deployed as new test applications are developed.
Keithley Instruments, Inc.
www.keithley.com
Filed Under: Test & Measurement Tips, Cables + cable management
