Measurement of Power Devices

Using External DC Power Supply

Application Note 4156-5

HP 4155B / 4156B
Semiconductor
ParameterAnalyzer

Expansion of measurement range to cover several

amperes easily achieved using external DC power
supply

1
Introduction Shield Box

If used in combination with an INTLK

INTLK
external DC power supply, the SMU 1
HP 4155B/4156B semiconductor Vg
parameter analyzer can easily Cv+ SMU 2
evaluate the DC characteristics of D Vvp
+
a power device that requires a A1
VMU 1
current of several amperes. This A3
V Vim
application note describes how to G
- VMU 2
connect the highly cost-effective S A6
HP E3615A DC power supply to To Common HP 4155B
the HP 4155B and to use the HP E3615A
HP 4155B's automatic analysis HP 16495H/J
Connector Plate
functions to automatically
calculate threshold voltage (Vth). Figure 1. Diagram of Connections for Power Transistor Measurement

Power transistor CHA NNEL S : CHA NNEL D E F I NI T I ON 9 4 OCT 0 5 0 5 : 1 5 PM

V

measurement * M E A S U R E ME N T MO D E
S WE E P I

Curve tracers are widely used for * CHANNE L S

power transistor measurement, ME A S U R E STBY SERI ES
UNI T V N A ME I N A ME MO D E F CT N RES I S T A NCE V PUL SE
but have few analysis functions S MU 1 : M P Vg I g VPUL SE VAR2 0 ohm

and have difficulty in extracting S MU 2 : M P Vv p I v p V VAR1 0 ohm

S MU 3 : M P
transistor parameters. They also S MU 4 : M P
I PUL SE

have the disadvantage of being V SU1

V SU2
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
difficult to automate in order to V MU 1 Vi m - - - - - - - DV OL T - - - - - - - - - C O MM O N
V MU 2 - - - - - - - DV OL T - - - - - - - - -
improve productivity.

The HP 4155B/4156B offers a

wide range of analysis functions
including log sweep measurement DEL ET E
R OW
functions, tangent line, regression
line, and marker Min/Max. It also Se l e c t Mo d e wi t h s of t k ey or r ot ar y k nob. B

has built-in HP Instrument BASIC, CHANNEL

which allows the control and
automation of all measurements
without any external controller,
and offers major improvements in
productivity from device
development and design to
incoming inspection. The
dedicated expander (HP 41501B)
gives a measurement range of up
to 1A/200V, and using an external
DC power supply that can be
remotely controlled allows further
expansion of the measurement
range.
The HP E3615A can be remotely
controlled by applying a voltage to
its control terminal, and current
DEF
USER
F CT N
US ER
VAR
NEXT
P A GE
Figure 2. CHANNEL DEFINITION Page
can be monitored remotely via its SMU2 is connected to the control
sense resistor. This paper terminal Cv+ to control output
describes how this function can be voltage, and the voltage
used to increase the output power measurement units (VMU1 and
and expand the current VMU2) are connected to sense
measurement range of the resistor terminals A1 and A3 to
HP 4155B. Our example uses the monitor output current. To give
HP E3615A, which provides a the HP E3615A a circuit common
maximum of 60W and 3A/20V, but potential, terminal A6 is connected
the HP E3614A (6A/8V) or the HP to the common terminal which is
E3617A (1A/60V) are also suitable. the outer shield of VMU2. These
connections are made using the
Connections HP 16495H/J option 002 connector
plate*1.
The HP 4155B and HP E3615A are
connected as shown in Figure 1.

2
 ME A S U R E : S WE E P SE T UP 9 3 SEP0 2 0 3 : 3 8 AM

CHANNEL S : USER F U NCT I ON D E F I NI T I ON 9 3 SEP0 2 0 3 : 3 7 AM * VARI ABL E V AR1 VAR2

UNI T S MU 2 : H R S MU 1 : H R
N A ME Vv p Vg
S WE E P MO D E D OU B L E S I NGL E
L I N / L OG L OG 10 L I NE A R
ST A RT 1 0 . 0 mV 5. 400 V

* USER F U N C T I ON S T OP 18. 000 V 5. 800 V

STEP - - - - - - - - - 2 0 0 . 0 mV * S MU PUL SE
N A ME UNI T DE F I NI T I ON
NO OF ST EP 33 3 UNI T S MU 1 : H R
Vd V Vv p * ( 2/ 3)
C OMP L I A N C E 1 0 0 . 0 0 mA 1 0 0 . 0 0 mA N A ME Vg
I d A V i m/ . 2
P O WE R C O MP OF F OF F P E R I OD 2 0 0 . 0 ms
WI D T H 2 0 . 0 ms
* T I MI N G BASE 0. 0000 V
H OL D T I ME 3 0 0 ms
* S WE E P CONT I NU E AT A NY St a t u s
* C ON S T A N T
UNI T
N A ME
MO D E
S OU R C E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
C OMP L I A N C E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Figure 3. USER FUNCTION DEFINITION Page Figure 4. SWEEP SETUP Page

GRAPH/ L I ST : GRAPHI CS SHORT 9 4 J UN0 7 0 5 : 0 9 AM GR A P H / L I S T : GR A P H I C S ME D I U M 9 4 J UN0 7 0 5 : 1 1 AM

MA RK E R ( 9. 4940000000 V 1. 4080000000 A ) MA R K E R ( 6 . 0 0 4 V 1 . 5 6 1 0 30 00 0 0 A 1 . 3 6 9 3 4 21 05 3 )
Vt h 4. 8 6 4 01 46 0 56 V
( A) ( A) ( )

1. 50 3 . 0 0 1 . 5 0
o
*

I d I d GM

200. m 2 0 0 . m o 1 00 . m
/ di v / d i v / d i v

0. 00 0 . 0 0 0 . 0 0

6. 60m Vd ( V) 1. 00 / di v 12. 0 3 . 0 0 Vg ( V) 50 0. m / d i v 7 . 6 0

Figure 5. Example of Drain Characteristic Measurements Figure 6. Drain Current versus Gate Voltage
Characteristics to Obtain Vth

HP 4155B settings and factor depending on the DC power set so that pulse of SMU1 has a
results of measurements supply (2/3 for the HP E3615A). duty cycle of 10 %. The
The sense resistance is 0.2 W for measurement results of drain
Figures 2 to 4 show the HP 4155B the HP E3615A, so Id = Vim/0.2. characteristics are shown in
setup screens for the drain So, you set the user functions as Figure 5.
characteristic measurements. On follows:
the CHANNEL DEFINITION page
Automatic extraction of
Vd = Vvp * (2/3) transistor parameters
(Figure 2), SMU1, which is
connected to the gate, is set to Id = Vim / 0.2
pulse output. Driving the gate The HP 4155B/4156B can
using a pulse voltage reduces the For other DC power supplies, see automatically extract parameters
average output current, so thermal *2 at end of this note. after measurements*3. Figure 6
drift is reduced. VMU1 and VMU2 shows the automatic extraction of
The SWEEP SETUP page (Figure threshold voltage from the "drain
are set to differential mode and 4) is used to set the sweep
the potential difference (Vim) is current versus the gate voltage"
conditions for SMU1 and SMU2, characteristics graph. Before
measured. and the pulse output for SMU1. In measurement, you set up the
The USER FUNCTION this example, to reduce the ANALYSIS SETUP page to extract
DEFINITION page (Figure 3) is number of measurements in the desired parameters. After
used to calculate the Vd and Id high voltage range and prevent measurement, HP 4155B/4156B
variables. Vd is the SMU2 output heating, SMU2 is set to log sweep. automatically extracts the
voltage (Vvp) multiplied by a Pulse width and pulse period are parameters.

3
In this example, the HP 4155B
finds maximum Gm, then draws
tangent to Id curve of this point.
The x-intercept of this tangent line
is Vth, which is automatically
displayed. Measurement
productivity, repeatability, and
speed are all significantly
improved.
Tips on maximizing
measurement accuracy
To obtain the highest possible
accuracy of measurement, you
should observe the following
points:
Instead of calculating Vd by
user functions, directly connect
one SMU to drain and one SMU
to source, and subtract voltage
difference between the drain
and the source. This will
eliminate the error caused by
remote programming and the
voltage loss caused by the
cables.
To minimize voltage loss in
cables that carry a high current,
use cables that are as short and
thick as possible.
After a sweep, when the drain
voltage returns abruptly to zero,
the HP E3615A may generate a
spike. To eliminate this spike,
use the double-staircase sweep
mode.
As much as possible, you should
use a heat sink.
Conclusion
This application note described
one example of how the HP 4155B
can be used with the highly
cost-effective HP E3615A DC
power supply to extract power
transistor parameters, which are
difficult to extract using the
conventional curve tracer method.
The HP 4155B/4156B's automatic
analysis functions and built-in HP
Instrument BASIC environment
also allow HP 4155B/4156B to
become an automatic test station.
Notes:
*1 Please observe following safety
precautions when using the
HP 4155B.
Make sure that the wiring used
with the connector plate and
shield box has adequate
capacity. The maximum output
voltage and current of each
external DC power supply are
as follows:
Modle No. Max. output Max. output
voltage current
HP E3614A 8V 6A
HP E3615A 20 V 3A
HP E3616A 35 V 1.7 A
HP E3617A 60 V 1A
To protect yourself against
electrical shocks when
replacing the DUT, be sure to fit
an INTLK switch and install the
measurement system, including
external DC power supply in a
shield box.
*2 For other external DC power
supplies, use the following user
functions:
HP E3614A:
Vd = Vvp * (4/9), Id = Vim / 0.1
HP E3616A:
Vd = Vvp * (7/9), Id = Vim / 0.6
HP E3617A:
Vd = Vvp * (6/7), Id = Vim / 0.89
*3 For a detailed explanation of
automatic analytical functions,
see "Application Note 4156-2,
Automated Extraction of
Semiconductor Parameters
Using the HP 4155B/4156B" (HP
publication number
5963-1249E).
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© Hewlett-Packard Company 1998
Data subject to change
Printed in Japan 1/1998
5963-2365E