The Series 2600A is Keithley’s newest version of its SourceMeter Instrument platform. It is a proven platform that combines a precision power supply, true current source, DMM, arbitrary waveform generator, V or I pulse generator with measurement, electronic load, and trigger control – all in a single instrument.

The Series 2600A incorporates a variety of measurement performance improvements in hardware and software that make it a powerful system for both benchtop and multi-channel test system builders:

• Offers the industry’s best throughput, along fast sampling rates;
• virtually unlimited channel scalability;
• advanced parallel test capabilities;
• A/D converter technology that provides both high speed and measurement precision;
• Breakthrough ease-of-use via its TSP Express software, a free embedded utility that allows users to quickly and easily perform common I-V tests without writing any software code or installing any software;
• Class C LXI compliance with the industry wide-Ethernet standard for rapid, cost-effective connection between the web and instrumentation.

Customer applications will range from benchtop I-V test/characterization to multi-channel I-V test systems in high speed production environments to multi-channel semiconductor characterization systems.

The Series 2600A will be offered with Keithley’s Test Script Processor (TSP) and TSP-Link technology. With TSP, all test routines, including advanced decision-making algorithms, can be performed by the instrument, as opposed to sending the readings back to the PC for decision making. As a result, delays due to GPIB traffic congestion are eliminated, and overall test times are reduced.

TSP-Link is Keithley’s expansion bus that allows users to add channels to their systems by connecting multiple SourceMeter instruments. Since all connected instruments behave as one tightly integrated multi-channel system, the user can scale the test system to fit the exact channel count needed at a low cost of test.

The dual-channel Series 2600A is available in a compact half-rack, 2U form factor and, for automated test applications, provides a high SMU rack density. It is powered by a digital measurement engine that provides improvements in measurement performance:

• Measurement speeds of up to 20,000 readings/second;
• Electrically isolated channels, which allows the user to combine multiple channels to expand the I-V ranges beyond what a single channel can provide;
• A 400X improvement in precision timing compared to previous SourceMeter  Instruments, to less than 0.5 micro-second channel-to-channel synchronization;
• High capacitance mode to test devices with capacitances up to 50 micro-farads;
• Parallel test capabilities to run up to 32 tests simultaneously (up to 64 channels); all SMU channels can synchronously or asynchronously run the same or different tests on any number of channels in the system;
• Improved output noise performance to protect sensitive devices from damage.

Availability
Six different models of the Series 2600A are available from October 2008, shipments two weeks after receipt of order.
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