Semiconductor Power-Device Analyzer

March 18, 2015

Ryan Gehm

Keysight Technologies, an electronic measurement company that recently split from Agilent Technologies, has enhanced its B1505A power-device analyzer/curve tracer, allowing it to characterize key parameters of on-wafer and packaged devices for semiconductor development. Efficient device development requires new types of characteristics, such as gate charge (Qg), device capacitances (Ciss, Coss, and Crss), and gate resistance (Rg) to be evaluated alongside more conventional characteristics. An automatic thermal testing capability, synchronized with thermal management equipment, covers an operating temperature of -50 to +250°C (-58 to +482°F). Engineers can make the Qg curve measurement with a new method using low- and high-voltage setups, which allows accurate characterization for very high power devices such as an IGBT module. Based on the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system, the enhanced B1505A also features a flexible and upgradable hardware architecture. For intensive reliability testing, for example, its architecture supports a configuration with up to five high-voltage source monitor units. The enhancements make it suitable for device and process engineers, power-device manufacturer QA engineers, and semiconductor researchers working to develop reliable power devices (e.g., IGBT and power MOSFETs) or new wide band-gap materials such as silicon carbide or gallium nitride. Its measurement range from sub-pA to 10 kV/1500 A enables precise µohm on-resistance measurements, while its 10 µs fast pulse capability enables complete power-device characterization.