National Instruments redefines the SMU
May 2014
PLCs, DCSs & Controllers
National Instruments has announced the NI PXIe-4139 system source measure unit (SMU), a high-performance addition to the company’s SMU portfolio. This SMU can reduce overall cost of test and accelerate time to market for test engineers in a broad range of industries, from semiconductor to automotive and consumer electronics.
“With the NI PXIe-4139, engineers and scientists get broad IV boundaries, including extended range pulsing capability up to 500 W and sensitivity down to 100 fA, to test a wide range of devices with a single instrument,” says Luke Schreier, senior group manager of test systems for National Instruments. “The compact size of the NI PXIe-4139 is also critical. It can reduce system footprint significantly compared with legacy box instrument SMUs.”
The NI PXIe-4139 features NI SourceAdapt technology to help engineers produce optimal SMU response to any load by customising the SMU control loop. This protects devices under test and improves system stability. Additionally, the NI PXIe-4139 system SMU can take measurements at 1,8 MS/s, which is 100 times faster than traditional SMUs. This helps reduce test time and offers engineers the ability to capture transient device behaviour without an external scope.
“A redefined approach to instrumentation is necessary if you want to keep pace with the increasing complexity of modern electronics,” adds Schreier. “SourceAdapt technology, coupled with the inherent benefits of PXI modular instrumentation and NI LabVIEW system design software, gives engineers a competitive edge in reducing test times and protecting their devices under test.”
Key features:
* 100 fA current measurement sensitivity: precisely characterise high-performance semiconductor devices.
* 1,8 MS/s sampling rate: capture transient device characteristics without an external oscilloscope.
* Up to 17 SMU channels in 4U rack space: minimise test system footprint for high-channel-count systems.
* SourceAdapt technology: reduce transient times to protect the device under test even on highly inductive or capacitive loads.
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