Keysight B1500A Series Instruction Manual

Keysight B1500A
Semiconductor Device
Analyzer
Configuration and
Connection Guide

Notices
© Keysight Technologies 2005-2015
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Manual Part Number
B1500-90090
Edition
Edition 1, May 2005
Edition 2, July 2007
Edition 3, June 2010
Edition 4, October 2011
Edition 5, June 2013
Edition 6, February 2015
Published by:
Keysight Technologies, Inc.
1400 Fountaingrove Parkway 
Santa Rosa, CA 95403 USA
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Contents
Keysight B1500A Configuration and Connection Guide, Edition 6 Contents - 1
1. B1500A Product Configuration
Product line up of the B1500A series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Options of B1500A series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Furnished accessories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10
Upgrade products for the B1500A series. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-20
Option of B1500AU upgrade kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-20
About Plug-in modules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-24
Module type and locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-25
Maximum Module Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-26
Limitation by installing B1500AU-030 WGFMU. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-26
EasyEXPERT and Desktop EasyEXPERT software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-27
Functions and capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-27
Operation mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-27
Application library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-28
Oscilloscope view. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-28
Workspace and data management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-29
External instrument control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-29
Furnished Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-29
Desktop EasyEXPERT Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-30
System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-31
License Management Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-33
B1542A Pulsed IV package for B1500A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-35
2. B1500A Accessories
Accessories for the B1500A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
SMU cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
CMU accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
HVSPGU accessories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
WGFMU accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Test fixture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10
Other accessories and interlock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12
Rack mount kit for Keysight standard cabinet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17
Accessories for the wafer prober / connector plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-18
3. Connection Guide for Wafer Prober
SMU/GNDU connection with prober . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
GNDU connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Non-Kelvin connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Kelvin connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4

Contents - 2 Keysight B1500A Configuration and Connection Guide, Edition 6
Contents
SMU connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Non-Kelvin connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Kelvin connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Kelvin to non-Kelvin connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
MCSMU connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
Connection for low current measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12
To make connection to reduce leakage current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12
Guarding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12
Connection for low resistance measurement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
To make connection to measure low resistance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
Kelvin connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
SCUU and ASU. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-16
SCUU positioner-based probing connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-16
ASU connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-17
WGFMU and RSU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19
Connecting RSU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19
Connecting RF Probes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-21
Connecting DC Probes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-24
Interlock circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-26
Installing the interlock circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-26
To connect interlock circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-28
4. Connection and Ordering Examples
Two terminal device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
General IV characterization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
General IV/CV characterization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
High resolution IV characterization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Four terminal device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8
General IV characterization, Migration from 4155 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8
General IV/CV characterization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10
High resolution IV characterization, Migration from 4156. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-12
High resolution IV characterization (ASU). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-14
High power IV characterization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-16
50 ms Pulse IV characterization (MCSMU) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-18
50 ms Pulse IV characterization (Two MCSMU) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-20
Flash memory cell characterization (2 pulse channels) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-22
Flash memory cell characterization (3 or 4 pulse channels) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-24
Configuration example of WGFMU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-26
Ultra-fast 1 us NBTI characterization using the B1530A WGFMU module . 4-26

1 B1500A Product Configuration

1-2 Keysight B1500A Configuration and Connection Guide, Edition 6
B1500A Product Configuration
Product line up of the B1500A series
1.1 Product line up of the B1500A series
The Keysight B1500A Semiconductor
Device Analyzer is the new generation one
box solution for the semiconductor device
DC/AC parametric measurement and
analysis application. The B1500A provides
the DC voltage/current output capability,
DC voltage/current measurement
capability, and AC signal output and
impedance measurement capability. So you
can perform a current-voltage sweep
measurement and a capacitance-voltage
sweep measurement for example by one
instrument.
The B1500A also provides an intuitive graphical user interface, touch screen LCD panel,
keyboard, and mouse for easy and effective measurement and analysis on the Windows
environment. You can analyze a measurement result characteristics graph for example by
using several tools such as markers, cursors, and lines.
The EasyEXPERT remote control function supports the remote execution of application
tests via the LAN interface.
Also, in the GPIB remote control mode, you can control the B1500A from an external
computer by using Keysight FLEX command set that is the common language for Keysight
semiconductor DC measurement instruments. So you can reuse the measurement program
created for Keysight 4155/4156/E5260/E5270 series.
•B1500A Semiconductor device analyzer mainframe
Mainframe that provides the ground unit (GNDU) and ten empty slots for the
measurement facilities, and Keysight EasyEXPERT software for the operating
environment. The EasyEXPERT is the GUI based measurement control and analysis
software runs on the Windows.
The B1500A is equipped with the 15 inch LCD with touch panel, hard disk drive,
DVD-RW/DVD-ROM/CD-RW/CD-ROM drive, and USB/LAN/GP-IB interfaces. The
USB keyboard, the USB mouse, and the stylus pen are available as option.
•HPSMU module (B1500A-A10)
High power source/monitor unit module. Occupies two slots.
•MPSMU module (B1500A-A11)
Medium power source/monitor unit module. Occupies one slot. Needs Keysight
E5288A ASU(option A29) to perform atto level current measurement or automatic
switching of the measurement resources connection. ASU is effective for the B1511B
MPSMU. ASU cannot be connected to the B1511A MPSMU.
•HRSMU module (B1500A-A17)
High resolution source/monitor unit module. Occupies one slot. Needs Keysight
E5288A ASU (option A28) to perform atto level current measurement or automatic
switching of the measurement resources connection.

Keysight B1500A Configuration and Connection Guide, Edition 6 1-3
B1500A Product Configuration
Product line up of the B1500A series
•MCSMU module (B1500A-A1A or A1B)
50 s pulse Medium current source/monitor unit module. Occupies one slot.
•MFCMU module (B1500A-A20)
Multi frequency capacitance measurement unit module. Occupies one slot. Needs
Keysight N1301A-100 SCUU to perform automatic switching of the measurement
resources connection.
•HVSPGU module (B1500A-A25)
High voltage semiconductor pulse generator unit module. Occupies one slot. Up to five
modules can be installed in one B1500A mainframe. One module provides two output
channels. Needs Keysight 16440A (B1500A-A04) and 16445A to perform automatic
switching of the measurement resources connection.
•WGFMU module and RSU (B1500A-A30, A31)
Waveform generator/fast measurement unit module and the remote-sense and switch
unit. Occupies one slot. Up to five modules can be installed in one B1500A mainframe.
One module provides two channels.
•16440A SMU/PGU pulse generator selector (B1500A-A04)
Used to switch the measurement resource connected to the DUT. The measurement
resource can be HV SPGU or SMU. Needs the 16445A adapter to use the selector. One
selector provides two switching channel.
•16442B test fixture (B1500A-A5F)
Test fixture for semiconductor parameter analyzers and device analyzers. Provides
three Kelvin triaxial connectors (six non-Kelvin triaxial connectors) for connecting
SMU, six BNC connectors for connecting HV SPGU, MFCMU, or other instruments, a
GNDU connector, and an Intlk connector. Furnished with the dual-in-line package
socket module, universal socket modules (two types), blank PTFE on board, and
connection wires for device connection.
•16445A selector adapter (B1500A-A04)
Used to connect the 16440A selector (B1500A-A04) to the B1500A. Two selectors can
be connected.
•E5288A ASU (B1500A-A28 or A29)
Atto sense and switch unit (ASU). Used to enable the 1 pA range for the atto level
current measurement, also switch the measurement resource connected to the DUT.
The measurement resource can be HRSMU/MPSMU or the instrument connected to
the AUX terminal.
•N1255A 2 channel connection box for MCSMU
Connection box to make the MCSMU connection easy. Supports two MCSMU.
•N1301A-100 SCUU
SMU CMU unify unit (SCUU). Used to switch the measurement resource connected to
the DUT. The measurement resource can be CMU or one of two SMUs connected to
the SCUU.

1-4 Keysight B1500A Configuration and Connection Guide, Edition 6
B1500A Product Configuration
Product line up of the B1500A series
•N1302A-200 GSWU
Guard switch unit (GSWU). Needs the SCUU to use the GSWU. Effective for the
accurate impedance measurements by connecting the guard lines between CMU high
and low near the DUT.
•B1542A pulsed IV package
B1542A expands the capabilities of the B1500A to enable the ultra short pulsed IV
measurements with parametric characterization down to 10 ns pulse width for many
new device structures.
Table 1-1 Mainframe Specification
Table 1-2 SMU Module Variation
Available Slots 10
Ground Unit (GNDU) sink capability 4.2 A
Instrument control GPIB
External trigger inputs / outputs 1 BNC Trigger in, 1 BNC Trigger out, 8
Programmable Trigger In/Out
Networking 100 BASE-TX / 10 BASE-T LAN Port
Module
Key specification
Max.
Current Max. Voltage
Current
means.
Resolu-
tion
Voltage
means.
Resolu-
tion
Req’d
slots
HPSMU
(High Power SMU) ±1 A ±200 V 10 fA 2 V2
MPSMU
(Medium Power SMU) ±100 mA ±100 V 10 fA 0.5 V1
HRSMU
(High Resolution SMU) ±100 mA ±100 V 1 fA 0.5 V1
ASU
(Atto Sense and Switch Unit) ±100 mA ±100 V 0.1 fA 0.5 VNA
MCSMU
(50 s pulse Medium Current SMU) ±1 A ±30 V 10 pA 0.2 V1

Keysight B1500A Configuration and Connection Guide, Edition 6 1-5
B1500A Product Configuration
Product line up of the B1500A series
Figure 1-1 B1500A Rear View

1-6 Keysight B1500A Configuration and Connection Guide, Edition 6
B1500A Product Configuration
Options of B1500A series
1.2 Options of B1500A series
This section describes Option items of the Keysight B1500A Semiconductor Device
Analyzer.
Table 1-3 B1500A Options
Model/
Option Description OP Instruction
Mainframe
B1500A Semiconductor device analyzer
mainframe • Select option 015 or 030 to specify cable length. • Select option 050 or 060 to specify Power line
frequency.
• The following accessories are included. See
Table 1-3, for more details of furnished
accessories.
Keyboard
USB mouse
Stylus pen
One Interlock cable (1.5 m or 3.0 m)
One GNDU cable (1.5 m or 3.0 m)
One Triaxial cable (1.5 m or 3.0 m)
GNDU to Kelvin adaptor
CD-ROM Manuals
Select standard packages (mandatory)
B1500A-A00 Empty package for custom solution • No module is included in B1500A mainframe
• Specify Add-on package option.
B1500A-A01 Standard pack 1 -Standard package
(Mid PWR unit 4ea, cables) • Standard package-1 contains four MPSMU and eight Triaxial cables.
• Cable length 1.5 m or 3.0 m is specified by
option 015 or 030.
B1500A-A02 Standard pack 2 -High resolution
package (High resolution unit 4ea,
cables)
• Standard package-2 contains four HRSMU and
eight triaxial cables.
• Cable length 1.5 m or 3.0 m is specified by
option 015 or 030.
B1500A-A03 Standard pack 3 -High power package
(High PWR unit 2ea, Mid PWR unit
2ea, cables)
• Standard package-3 contains two HPSMU, two
MPSMU, and eight triaxial cables.
• Cable length 1.5 m or 3.0 m is specified by
option 015 or 030.
B1500A-A04 Standard pack 4 - Flash pack (Mid
PWR unit 2ea, Hi-res unit 2ea, PGU,
accessories)
• Standard package-4 contains two MPSMU, two
HRSMU, one HVSPGU and accessories for
flash memory cell measurement See Table 1-8.