Keithley releases KTEI V7.2 upgrade

The Keithley Test Environment Interactive (KTEI) V7.2 upgrade includes nine solar-cell test libraries, an expanded frequency range for the system's capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurement capability and support for the company's nine-slot Model 4200-SCS instrument chassis.

The test libraries included in KTEI V7.2 expand the Model 4200-SCS's capabilities for solar-cell current-voltage (I-V), C-V and resistivity testing applications, which are increasingly important given the growing interest in and governmental support for alternative-energy technologies.

The software upgrade also supports drive-level capacitance profiling (DLCP): a solar-cell testing technique that was difficult to perform accurately using earlier test solutions.

DLCP provides defect density information on thin-film solar cells.

Existing Model 4200-CVU CV unit cards, which were introduced in November 2007, can be readily modified to support this testing technique.

The Model 4200-CVU's frequency range has been expanded to 1KHz to 10MHz from 10kHz to 10Mz to support DLCP testing.

This extended frequency range also expands the system's applications, providing support for testing flat-panel LCDs and organic semiconductors such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).

The continuing growth in I-V, pulse and C-V characterisation applications has meant that Model 4200-SCS users who need exceptional testing flexibility and capabilities have been finding their mainframes crowded.

To address this need, the V7.2 upgrade provides support for a nine-slot instrument chassis.

Previously, the Model 4200-SCS had just eight slots to hold a growing array of source-measure units (SMUs), pulse generation and scope cards and CV cards.

Existing Model 4200-SCS systems can be upgraded to support nine slots; all new mainframes will have nine slots.

In support of the V7.2 upgrade, Keithley has also introduced a high-performance triaxial cable kit for connecting the Model 4200-SCS to a prober, designed to simplify the process of switching between DC I-V, C-V and pulse testing configurations.

This cable kit eliminates the need for recabling and the measurement errors that often result from cabling errors.

Two versions of the cable kit are available - one for Cascade Microtech probers and the other for use with SUSS Microtec probers.

Keithley's Model 4200-SCS replaces a range of electrical test tools with a single, tightly integrated characterisation solution and is suitable for a variety of applications including semiconductor technology development, process development and materials research in reliability laboratories, materials and device research laboratories and consortia and any laboratory needing a benchtop DC or pulse instrument.

Keithley Instruments, a provider of advanced electrical test instruments and systems, offers a range of solutions for I-V, C-V and pulsed I-V measurements and analysis.

Products range from benchtop instruments to turnkey systems and are used in applications including materials analysis, device characterisation, wafer-level reliability and process-control monitoring.

KTEI V7.2 is available at no cost to existing Model 4200-SCS users.

However, there is a charge to calibrate the upgraded 4210-CVU and to upgrade existing Model 4200-SCS systems to support nine instruments.