News - Component Test

Femto/Picoammeters and Electrometers for Materials Research

10 September 2014 – Keysight Technologies introduced the B2980A Series of femto/picoammeters and electrometers, the world’s first graphical picoammeters and electrometers to confidently measure down to 0.01 fA which is 0.01 x 10E-15 A, and up to 10 petaohms (PΩ) which is 10 x 10E15 ohms. Since AC power line noise can be difficult to eliminate when making low-level measurements, both instruements are available in battery powered versions. All B2980A series products have a 4.3” liquid crystal display that supports a variety of viewing modes (numeric, trend chart and histogram), which eliminates the need to perform data analysis on a PC.

In recent years, research and development into new materials, such as nanomaterial, graphene, polymers and dielectric material, has increased significantly. While such materials are expected to be enablers for a wide-range of new applications, working with these new materials requires highly sensitive electronic measurement. However, making those measurements with a high degree of confidence is challenging. With its ability to make highly sensitive, low-current and high-resistance measurements, the B2980A Series is well suited to address this challenge.

The B2980A Series meters offers best-in-class performance, with a 2 pA to 20 mA operating range and an internal 1000 V source, as well as a host of innovative capabilities designed to optimize measurement confidence.

• A battery operation mode that eliminates the effect of any AC power noise on measurements and enables detection of previously hidden signals.
• A time-domain view that makes it easy to capture transient signal effects as well as select the desired measurement data.
• A real-time histogram display capability for quick statistical analysis of measurement data – a capability previously only available on an external PC. Because the display is continuously updated on a real-time basis, users can quickly debug their measurement environment and setup. This eliminates any ambiguity between the measurement environment and setup and the measurement data.
• A Test Setup Integrity function and dedicated accessories designed to ensure maximum measurement accuracy. In sensitive measurement applications, setting up the appropriate cabling and equipment connections can be quite difficult. Conventional picoammeters and electrometers fail to address issues related to test setup, such as external cabling. With the B2980A Series’ optional setup integrity checker function, users can now more easily isolate causes of noise.

 “Evaluating new materials or characterizing advanced devices often requires highly sensitive electronic measurements,” said Masaki Yamamoto, general manager of Keysight’s Hachioji Semiconductor Test Division. “Engineers and researchers performing such sensitive measurements demand greater confidence in their measurement results. Our new B2980A Series femto/picoammeters and electrometers, with its best-in-class measurement performance and innovative functionalities, means engineers and researchers can trust their test results and improve their development speeds.”

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