Keysight Technologies B2900A Series User manual

Keysight Technologies
Using Source/Measure Unit as an Ammeter
B2900A Precision Source/Measure Unit
Demo Guide

02 | Keysight | Using Source/Measure Unit as an Ammeter – Demo Guide
Introduction
The Keysight B2900A Series Precision Source/Measure Unit (SMU) is a compact and
cost-effective bench-top SMU with the capability to output and measure both voltage
and current. The B2900A Series SMU enables you to make a wide range of current
versus voltage (IV) measurements more accurately and quickly than ever before. In
addition, the B2900A Series SMU comes with an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI)
and free PC-based application software that make it easy for you to begin making
productive measurements immediately.
This demonstration guide shows how easily you can use the Keysight B2900A Series
SMU as an ammeter.
Required Instrument and Accessories
All of the accessories required to perform the demos described in this demonstration guide
are provided in a demo kit that is included with Keysight B2902A/12A demo units. The kit
includes items such as a banana cable, a 1.1 kΩ resistor, etc.
Keysight B2902A/12A
Precision Source/Measure Unit
11059A Kelvin Probe Set
1.1 kΩ Resistor
U8201A Combo Test Lead Kit

03 | Keysight | Using Source/Measure Unit as an Ammeter – Demo Guide
Figure 1. Connection diagram and basic condition
Concept
Figure 1 illustrates the connection diagram used in the demo to use the Keysight B2900A
Series SMU as an ammeter. Since the current polarity of the SMU is opposite to an ammeter,
the Low Force terminal of the channel has to be connected to the current output port of the
device under test (DUT).
In this demo, a 1.1 kΩ resistor combined with a power supply is used as a DUT, a current source
circuit. The channel 2 of the B2902A/12A is used as a power supply. However, you can also use
your own power supply for it.
Setup
1. Connect the yellow banana plug of the 11059A to the Ch 1 Low Force Terminal.
2. Connect the red banana plug of the 11059A to the Ch1 High Force Terminal.
3. Clip the end of the 1.1 kΩ resistor with the black gold-plated tweezers of the 11059A.
4. Connect the black banana cable of the U8201A to the Ch2 Low Force Terminal.
5. Connect the red banana cable of the U8201A to the Ch2 High Force Terminal.
6. Clip the other end of the 1.1 kΩ resistor with the red alligator clip of the U8201A
7. Connect the red gold-plated tweezers of the 11059A to the black alligator clip of the U8201A.
A-
-
V
Common
High Force
Low Force
DUT
Current
Out
Low
B2901/02/11/12A
R
1.1 kΩPower
Supply
DUT
Current
Out
Low
Red (11059A)
Yellow (11059A)
Black (11059A)
Red (11059A)
U8201A
Channel 2
as Power Supply
A-
-
V
Common
High Force
Low Force
B2901/02/11/12A
R
1.1 kΩPower
Supply
DUT
Current Out
Low
Channel 1
DUT
1.1 kΩ

04 | Keysight | Using Source/Measure Unit as an Ammeter – Demo Guide
LAB1: Use Source/Measure Unit as an Ammeter
Objective
This demo illustrates the current mea-
surement function as an ammeter by
sourcing 0 V voltage and measuring the
current from the resistor biased by a
power supply using a Source/Measure
Unit.
Procedure
1. Congure the low terminal state to
FLOATING
2. Measure current using the SMU
(Channel 1) as an ammeter
3. Enable the DUT, the current soure
circuit
4. Conrm measured current
5. (Optional) Conguring the
measurement speed
6. (Optional) Conguring the
measurement range operation
Demonstration
In the default setting, the low terminal of the channels in the Keysight B2900A Series SMU is grounded
internally. However, the low terminal can be disconnected from the ground and kept oating. Congur-
ing the low terminal state to FLOATING, which enables you to connect the low terminal to any potential
up to ±250 V, and measuring current with sourcing 0 V from the channel, which makes it possible to
use the channel as an ammeter.
1. Congure the low terminal state to FLOATING
1) If you aren’t on the top of the Function menu, press repeatedly to return to the top level.
2) Press , , and then press to open the Output Connection
dialogue.
3) Press and select to specify the channel which the Low terminal state is
congured for.
On the top level of the Function menu
In the middle level of the Function menu
Any tree structure can’t be seen
Some tree structure can be seen
(1) Press Config
(2) Press Source
(3) Press Connection

05 | Keysight | Using Source/Measure Unit as an Ammeter – Demo Guide
4) Press and select , and then press to congure the Low terminal
state to FLOATING.
If the low terminal state of the channel is set to FLOATING, you can see the status
indicator on the GUI as below, although no indicator can be seen on being set to
GROUNDED.
2. Measure current using the SMU (Channel 1) as a ammeter
2-1. Change View mode to Ch1 Single View
1) Press repeatedly until the
Channel 1 Single View is displayed
2-2. Congure the condition to source and measure
1) Press to edit the Source function, and then select to set the Source
function to Voltage source.
GROUNDED FLOATING

06 | Keysight | Using Source/Measure Unit as an Ammeter – Demo Guide
2) Press to edit the Source value, and then enter 0 V to set the Source value to 0 V.
3) Press to edit the Limit value, and then enter 100 mA to set the Limit value to
100 mA for example.
4) Press to congure the Measurement parameter, and then select to set
the Measurement parameter to Current.
5) Rotate and press to edit the Voltage source range operation. Then Select
to set the Voltage source range operation to FIXED.
6) Rotate and press to edit the Voltage source range, and then select to set
it to 200 mV.

07 | Keysight | Using Source/Measure Unit as an Ammeter – Demo Guide
2-3. Perform the measurement
1) Press for the channel 1 to switch on its output terminal.
2) Press to perform a measurement repeatedly. Now you can see the
measurement result on the GUI of the B2902/12A as below.
3. Enable the DUT, the current source circuit
You can also use your own power supply instead of the channel 2 of the B2902A/12A
3-1. Change View mode to Ch2 Single View.
1) Press repeatedly until the
Channel 2 Single View is displayed.
3-2. Congure the condition of the power supply (Channel 2)
1) Press to edit the Source function, and then select to set the Source
function to Voltage source.
2) Press to edit the Source value, and then enter 1.1 V to set the Source
value to 1.1 V for example.
3) Press to edit the Limit value, and then enter 100 mA to set the Limit value
to 100 mA for example.

08 | Keysight | Using Source/Measure Unit as an Ammeter – Demo Guide
4) Press for the channel 2 to switch on its output terminal and enable the DUT.
4. Conrm measured current
4-1. Change View mode to Ch1 Single View.
1) Press repeatedly until
Channel 1 Single View is displayed.
You can see about 1 mA as measured value, since 1 V is sourced to a 1.1 kΩ
resistor. If you press for the channel 2 to switch it off, you can see only the
offset current because the DUT, the current source circuit is disabled.
Theoretically speaking, the measured current should be 1 mA since 1.1 V is sourced
to a 1.1 kΩ resistor. However, it may be varied because the resistor has some error on
its value actually.
Power Supply enabled Power Supply disabled

09 | Keysight | Using Source/Measure Unit as an Ammeter – Demo Guide
5. (Optional) Conguring the measurement speed
In the default setting, the instrument selects the appropriate measurement speed and
range automatically to get the ne accuracy. However, you can also specify these
parameters on the GUI of the B2900A Series SMU to meet a variety of the requirement
to the measurement conditions.
For example, let’s try to change the measurement speed to NORMAL to make a mea-
surement more carefully. If you select NORMAL, the aperture time is set to 1 PLC. Here,
PLC stands for power line cycle and the specied number of power line cycles is used
per a measurement.
1) Press to edit the Measurement speed, and then select to set the
Measurement speed to NORMAL. (If you can’t see in Assist keys, press
to change the keys shown in Assist keys.)
6. (Optional) Conguring the measurement range operation
The parameters which congure the measurement range operation can be displayed in
the Range Sub-panel in the Channel 1 Single View. In the default setting, the B2900A
Series SMU performs the current measurement using a 1 μA current minimum measure-
ment range with AUTO range operation. With AUTO range operation, the B2900A Series
SMU selects the proper range for the measurement with the specied minimum mea-
surement range so that you don’t need to take care about it. To know how to change the
measurement range setting, try to congure to use the 10 μA current minimum mea-
surement range with AUTO range operation.
1) Rotate and press to edit the Current minimum measurement range and then
select to set it to 10 μA.
If you’d like to x the measurement range, you can select FIXED range operation as below.
2) Rotate and press to edit the Current measurement range operation. Then
Select to set the Current measurement range operation to FIXED.

10 | Keysight | Using Source/Measure Unit as an Ammeter – Demo Guide
B2900 Precision Instrument Family
The B2900 family contains products that perform both precision sourcing and
precision measurement. www.keysight.com/nd/b2900a
Conclusion
The Keysight B2900A Series Precision Source/Measure Unit (SMU) is a compact and
cost-effective bench-top SMU with the capability to output and measure both voltage
and current. Although it has the capability to make a wide range of current versus
voltage (IV) measurements as its intrinsic function, the B2900A Series SMU can be used
as an ammeter easily.

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© Keysight Technologies, 2017
Published in USA, December 1, 2017
5992-1710EN
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11 | Keysight | Using Source/Measure Unit as an Ammeter – Demo Guide
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