High Voltage Curve Tracer

Agilent Technologies Inc. recently introduced the industry's first power device analyzer/curve tracer able to characterize semiconductor devices at up to 3,000 volts and 20 amps.

Power devices, including power management ICs (PMIC) and power MOSFETs and motor control ICs used in cars, are a growing device category that requires both high-power and high-accuracy test. In order to meet emerging standards for low-carbon emissions and improved energy efficiencies, power devices must function more efficiently even as they continue to become more complex, smaller and faster. New devices using wide band gap materials such as silicon carbide (SiC) or gallium nitride (GaN) have been widely studied in order to achieve high efficiency. To enable the careful and precise testing to meet performance and safety requirements, these studies require high-voltage measurement capabilities greater than 1,000 volts. In addition, for those power-device developments, on-wafer testing becomes very important for reducing development turnaround times.

Featuring a curve tracer mode, the Agilent B1505A can replace curve tracers used in failure analysis, as well as in circuit design or power module development of electronic equipment makers.

Key Features of the Agilent B1505A Power Device Analyzer/Curve Tracer usful to high voltage engineers:
-- Accurate measurement of breakdown voltage and leakage currents at high voltage.
-- Sub picoamp level measurement capability at high voltage.
-- Capacitance-Voltage (CV) measurement with up to 3,000 V bias.
-- Device characterization at 3,000 volts and 20 amps in a single instrument.