Keithley Series 2600 Application Manual Download

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1-2

SeCTIon 1

General Information

on the

digital I/O port

on the Models 2601 and 2602

System SourceMeter instruments is not suitable for
control of safety circuits and should not be used to
control a safety interlock. The Interlock pin on the

digital I/O port

for the Models 2611, 2612, 2635, and

2636 can be used to control a safety interlock.

Computer:

The test programs in this document require a PC with

IEEE-488 (GPIB) communications and cabling .

Software:

Series 2600 System SourceMeter instruments each

use a powerful on-board test sequencer known as the Test Script
Processor (TSP™) . The TSP is accessed through the instrument
communications port, most often, the GPIB . The test program, or
script, is simply a text file that contains commands that instruct
the instrument to perform certain actions . Scripts can be written
in many different styles as well as utilizing different programming
environments . This guide discusses script creation and manage-
ment using Keithley Test Script Builder (TSB), an easy-to-use pro-
gram that allows you to create, edit, and manage test scripts . For
more information on TSB and scripting, see

Section 2: Using Test

Script Builder

of the Series 2600 Reference Manual .

Connections and Cabling:

High quality cabling, such as the

Keithley Model 2600-BAN or Model 7078-TRX-3 triaxial cables,
should be used whenever possible .

1.2.2 Remote/Local Sensing

Considerations

In order to simplify the test connections, most applications in
this guide use local sensing for the SMUs . Local sensing requires

connecting only two cables between the SMUs and the test fixture
(OUTPUT HI and OUTPUT LO) .

When  sourcing  and/or  measuring  voltage  in  a  low  impedance
test circuit, there can be errors associated with IR drops in the
test  leads .  Using  four-wire  remote  sense  connections  optimizes
voltage  source  and  measure  accuracy .  When  sourcing  voltage,
four-wire remote sensing ensures that the programmed voltage is
delivered to the DUT . When measuring voltage, only the voltage
drop across the DUT is measured . Use four-wire remote sensing
for the following source-measure conditions:

Sourcing and/or measuring voltage in low impedance (<1k

•

)

test circuits .
Enforcing voltage compliance limit directly at the DUT .

•

1.3 Graphing

All of the programs in this guide print the data to the TSB Instru-
ment Console . In some cases, graphing the data can help you visu-
alize the characteristics of the DUT . One method of graphing is to
copy and paste the data from the TSB Instrument Console and
place it in a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel .

After the script has run, and the data has been returned to the
Instrument Console, you can highlight it by using the PC’s mouse:
depress the Control and c (commonly written as Ctrl+c) keys on
the keyboard simultaneously, switch to an open Excel worksheet,
and depress Control and v simultaneously (Ctrl+v) . The data
should now be placed in the open worksheet columns so you can
use the normal graphing tools available in your spreadsheet pro-
gram to graph the data as needed .

This Applications Guide is designed for Series 2600 instrument users who want to create their own scripts using the Test Script
Builder software . Other options include LabTracer

2 software, the Automated Characterization Suite (ACS), and a LabVIEW driver .