Section 5: Pulse measure and pulse generator units
Model 4200A-SCS Parameter Analyzer Reference Manual
5-60
4200A-901-01 Rev. C / February 2017
KPulse full arb waveforms
The Keithley Pulse tool (KPulse) is a virtual front panel software application used to control the
optional pulse generator cards. KPulse can be used to create, save and output full arb waveforms,
and provides a collection of basic full arb waveform types such as sine, square, triangle, noise,
Gaussian, and calculation. After configuring one of the basic waveform types, you can save it as a
.kaf file.
Once a full arb waveform is saved as a .kaf file, it can later be imported back into KPulse. The
waveform can also be loaded into the pulse generator card using the
arb_file
function. For more
information, refer to
(on page 5-60).
Pulse waveforms for nonvolatile memory testing
The pulse card has several attributes that support nonvolatile memory (NVM) testing.
To perform the multi-level pulse waveforms for the typical program/erase waveform, each pulse card
channel uses the Segment Arb mode. For more information about Segment Arb waveforms, refer to
(on page 10-6). The ability to disconnect, or float, a particular device pin in
the Segment Arb waveform requires an inline solid state relay.
The pulse card ou
tput channels each have 50 Ω output impedance for most ranges. When current
flows through the pulse channel, there is a voltage drop across this 50 Ω resistor internal to the pulse
card. This dictates that the voltage at the output may be different from what is expected based on the
resistance of the DUT. This effect is called the load-line effect. For more information on the load-line
effect and how to compensate for it, refer to
Load-line effect compensation (LLEC) for the PMU
The DUT resistance determines pulse voltage across DUT:
•
The gate of a flash or NVM device has high impedance.
•
The voltage at the gate is double of the programmed voltage.
•
The voltage at the drain is a function of the resistance of the drain-source, as mentioned above.
Adjusting the pulse level to match the expected drain voltage is performed iteratively with an
oscilloscope to measure V
D
during the pulse.
The methods used to define the multi-level waveforms used in flash memory testing include using the
subsite stress/measure looping feature of Clarius. Use the KPulse application to define each unique
voltage waveform. Refer to
(on page 10-1) for details.
