Teledyne Lecroy Everywhereyoulook ZS4000 User manual

User Manual
ZS4000
High
-Impedance
Active Probe

ZS4000 High-Impedance Active Probe User Manual
© 2021 Teledyne LeCroy, Inc. All rights reserved.
Users are permitted to duplicate and distribute Teledyne LeCroy
documentation for internal training purposes only. Resale or unauthorized
duplication of Teledyne LeCroy documentation materials is strictly prohibited.
Teledyne LeCroy is a registered trademark of Teledyne LeCroy, Inc. Other
product or brand names are trademarks or requested trademarks of their
respective holders. Information in this publication supersedes all earlier
versions. Specifications are subject to change without notice.
zs4000-probe-manual_07may21.pdf
933654-00 Rev A
May, 2021

User Manual
1
Contents
Safety Instructions ................................................................................2
Introduction...........................................................................................3
Standard Accessories............................................................................4
Tips ..........................................................................................................5
Grounds...................................................................................................6
Leads .......................................................................................................7
Clips and Grabbers .................................................................................8
Probe Holder ...........................................................................................9
ZS4000 Probe Impedance ...................................................................10
ZS4000 Probe Loading (Equivalent Circuit) .........................................10
Probe Operation ..................................................................................11
Handling the Probe.............................................................................. 11
Connecting the Probe to the Test Circuit .......................................... 11
Connecting the Probe to an Oscilloscope ......................................... 11
Operation with a Teledyne LeCroy Oscilloscope .............................. 12
High Frequency Measurements......................................................... 12
Performance Verification.....................................................................16
Required Test Equipment ................................................................... 16
Test Setup and Preliminary Procedure.............................................. 18
Functional Check................................................................................. 18
Verification Procedure ........................................................................ 19
ZS4000 Test Record............................................................................ 23
Care and Maintenance.........................................................................24
Cleaning ............................................................................................... 24
Calibration Interval .............................................................................. 24
Service Strategy .................................................................................. 24
Replacement Parts.............................................................................. 24
Returning a Product for Service .......................................................... 25
Technical Support ............................................................................... 25
Warranty............................................................................................... 26
Certifications ....................................................................................... 27

ZS4000 High-Impedance Active Probe
2
Safety Instructions
Observe generally accepted safety procedures in addition to the precautions
listed here. The overall safety of any system incorporating this accessory is
the responsibility of the assembler of the system.
Symbols
These symbols appear on the probe body or in documentation to alert you to
important safety considerations.
CAUTION of potential for damage to equipment, or WARNING of
potential for bodily injury. Attend to the information, and do not
proceed until conditions are fully understood and met.
ELECTROSTATIC DISCHARGE (ESD) HAZARD. The probe is
susceptible to damage if anti-static measures are not taken.
Precautions
Connect and disconnect properly. Connect probe to the measurement
instrument before connecting the test leads to a circuit/signal being tested.
Use only within operational environment listed. Do not use in wet or explosive
atmospheres.
Use indoors only.
Keep product surfaces clean and dry.
Be careful with sharp tips. The tips may cause bodily injury if not handled
properly.
Use only accessories designed for use with the product.
Observe all terminal ratings. To avoid electric shock or probe damage, do not
use the probe above the input limits shown on the probe.
Do not excessively bend cables.
Do not operate with suspected failures. Do not use the probe if any part is
damaged. Cease operation immediately and secure the probe from inadvertent
use.

User Manual
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Operating Environment
The accessory is intended for indoor use and should be operated in a clean, dry
environment. Before using this product, ensure that its operating environment
is maintained within these parameters:
Temperature: 0 to 40° C
Humidity: Maximum relative humidity 80 % for temperatures up to 31 °C
decreasing linearly to 50 % relative humidity at 40° C
Altitude: Up to 10,000 ft (3,048 m)
Introduction
The ZS4000 is a small, high-impedance active probe designed to meet today’s
increasing demand for measurements on a variety of test points. With low
input capacitance and high input resistance, circuit loading is minimized.
The ZS4000 can be used with a variety of Teledyne LeCroy oscilloscopes with
MAUI firmware version 7.1.1.2 or later (see the product page at
teledynelecroy.com/oscilloscope for compatibility). With the ProBus interface,
the probe becomes an integral part of the oscilloscope, controlled from the
oscilloscope’s front panel. The oscilloscope provides power to the probe, so
there is no need for a separate power supply or batteries.
See the ZD4000 product page at teledynelecroy.com for probe specifications.
Key Benefits
Features
High frequency performance
Low input capacitance
Wide dynamic range
ProBus interface
Small, low mass probe head is designed
for ease of use and high performance.
Probe tip socket fits easily onto 0.025
inch square pins for direct access to test
points. Several available adaptors
connect directly to the probe socket.
Ground socket accepts several different
ground leads to provide a short ground
path for high frequency performance.

ZS4000 High-Impedance Active Probe
4
Standard Accessories
The ZS4000 probe is shipped with the following standard accessories:
Standard Accessory
QTY
Replacement Part Number
Straight Tip
3
PK-ZS-001
Pogo Tip
3
PK-ZS-017
Bent Tip
1
PACC-PT003
IC Tip
1
PACC-PT005
Right Angle Socket
1
PK-ZS-006
2.54mm Square Pin Adaptor
1
PK-ZS-018
Offset Ground
2
PK-ZS-016
Ground Blade, Narrow
1
PK-ZS-021
Copper Tape Pad
2
PK-ZS-009
Ground Blade, Wide
2
PK-ZS-015
Pogo Ground Lead
1
PK-ZS-020
2.54 mm PCB Adaptor
5
PK-ZS-024
Straight Pin Lead – Short
1
PK-ZS-022
Straight Pin Lead – Long
1
PK-ZS-023
Right Angle Lead – Short
1
PACC-LD-003
Right Angle Lead – Long
1
PACC-LD-004
Y Lead Adaptor
1
PK-ZS-014
Channel ID Clips (set of 4)
1
PK-ZS-010
Micro-Grabbers (1 each)
2
PK-ZS-007R / PK-ZS-007B
QFPIC Clips (set of 2)
1
PK-ZS-025
Freehand Probe Holder
1
PK-ZS-019
User Manual
1
N/A*
Certificate of Calibration
1
* PDF copy of this manual available free at teledynelecroy.com/support/techlib.

User Manual
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Tips
Straight Tip
The straight tip is rugged and designed for general
probing. Fits in either probe socket.
IC Lead Tip
The IC Lead Tip is covered in insulation on all sides
(except for a small edge), this tip was designed to
prevent shorting neighboring IC leads. The gold
part of the tip is not insulated and should touch the
IC lead to be tested. It is one
-size-fits-all and will
work with any IC lead pitch. Fits in either probe
socket.
Bent Tip
The Bent Tip is made out of titanium, this tip is
ideal for situations that require
you to hold the
probe parallel to the c
ircuit board under test. Also
gives you more control when holding the probe like
a pencil. Fits in either probe socket.
Pogo Tip
The pogo tip provides z-axis compliance. The tip
can fit into a socket or onto a
n IC leg.
Right-Angle Socket
The Right Angle Socket allows the probe to be
connected to a pin on the board under test, while
keeping the probe parallel to the board.

ZS4000 High-Impedance Active Probe
6
Grounds
2.54 mm Square Pin Adaptor
The 2.54 mm square pin adaptor fits into the
ground socket of the ZS4000 probe for easy
connection to standard 2.54 mm square pin
spacing on a circuit board.
Offset Ground
The Offset Ground is designed to be attached to
either socket of the probe head. The
Offset Ground
connect
s to the ground socket and wraps around
the probe head
, making it possible to probe a
signal and ground that are extremely close
together. The short length provides
the highest
quality grounding for high
frequency applications.
Narrow Ground Blade and
Copper Pad
The Narrow Ground Blade and Copper Pad
together are
the best grounding solution for
probing an IC. The
Narrow Ground Blade is
designed to provide a short, low inductance ground
path. The Copper Pad is adhesive backed to stick
to the top of an
IC, and can then be soldered to the
IC ground.
Wide Ground Blade
The Wide Ground Blade is ideal for use when the
best quality ground is needed. The wide blade
offers the minimal inductance compared to the
narrow ground blade.

User Manual
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Pogo Ground Lead
The Pogo Ground Lead allows flexibility for
bend
ing and positioning the ground lead onto hard
-
to
-reach test points, while maintaining z-axis
compliance.
2.54 mm PCB Adaptor
The 2.54 mm PCB adaptor fits into the tip
socket of the ZS4000 probe for easy connection
to standard 2.54 mm square pin spacing on a
circuit board.
Leads
While longer leads provide greater flexibility when connecting the probe to a
circuit, the added inductance may degrade the fidelity of high frequency
signals.
Short and Long
Straight Pin Lead
These leads have a socket on one end and a
square pin on the other to connect to the input or
ground socket of the probe body
and may be used
for general purpose probing.
Short and Long
Right Angle Pin Lead
These leads have a socket on one end with a right
angle and a square pin on the other to connect to
the input or ground socket of the probe body
and
may be used for general purpose probing.

ZS4000 High-Impedance Active Probe
8
Y Lead
This lead is used for both ground and input lead
simultaneously. It has two sockets on one end and
two square pins on the other and may be used for
general purpose probing.
Clips and Grabbers
Channel ID Clips
The Channel ID Clips can be attached to the probe
cable to quickly identify to which channel the probe
is currently connected: CH1 yellow, CH2 red, CH3
green, and CH4 blue.
Micro-Grabbers
The micro
-grabbers are ideal for connecting to
small IC legs or pins very tightly spaced.
QFPIC Clips
The QFPIC clips are ideal for connecting to the legs
or pins of Quad Flat Pack ICs.

User Manual
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Probe Holder
Freehand Probe Holder
The FreeHand
lets you focus on the oscilloscope
screen instead of on maintaining contact to
multiple test points. It allows
you to concentrate
on what is really imp
ortant – the waveform.
It is designed to keep most of the weight on the
probe tip and will prevent lost contact when a
bump to the table shakes the circuit under test.

ZS4000 High-Impedance Active Probe
10
ZS4000 Probe Impedance
ZS4000 Probe Loading (Equivalent Circuit)
1
10
100
1000
10000
100000
1000000
10000000
1000Hz 10kHz 100kHz 1MHz 10MHz 100MHz 1000MHz 10000MHz
0.6pF
40 Ω

User Manual
11
Probe Operation
Handling the Probe
The ZS4000 probe is a precision test instrument. Exercise care when handling
and storing the probe. Always handle the probe by the probe body or
compensation box. Avoid putting excessive strain or exposing the probe cable
to sharp bends.
ESD Sensitive: The tips of the probes are sensitive to Electrostatic
Discharge (ESD). Avoid causing damage to the probe by always
following anti-static procedures (wear wrist strap, etc.) when using or
handling the probe.
Connecting the Probe to the Test Circuit
To maintain the high performance of the probe in measurement applications,
care must be exercised in connecting the probe to the test circuit. Increasing
the parasitic capacitance or inductance in the input paths may introduce a
“ring” or slow the rise time of fast signals. Input leads which form a large loop
area will pick up any radiated electromagnetic field which passes through the
loop and may induce noise into the probe input.
Using one of the available accessories makes the ZS4000 probe with its small
profile and low mass head ideally suited for applications in dense circuitry.
Connecting the Probe to an Oscilloscope
ZS4000 probes are designed for use with Teledyne LeCroy platforms equipped
with the ProBus interface. When you attach the probe output connector to the
oscilloscope’s input connector, the oscilloscope recognizes the probe, provides
proper termination, and activates the probe control functions in the user
interface.

ZS4000 High-Impedance Active Probe
12
Operation with a Teledyne LeCroy Oscilloscope
When the ZS4000 probe is connected to any compatible Teledyne LeCroy
oscilloscope, the displayed scale factor and measurement values are
automatically adjusted. A Probe dialog appears behind the corresponding
Channel dialog.
The probe can be controlled through the oscilloscope front panel:
•The Volts/Div knob controls the oscilloscope’s scale factor to give full
available dynamic range up to 2 V/div (16 V peak to peak).
•The channel Offset knob controls the probe input offset circuit over its
range of ±12 V.
High Frequency Measurements
Probe Input Loading
When you touch a probe to the circuit under test, the probe will affect your
measurement because of the probe’s input impedance introduced into the
circuit. All probes present resistive, capacitive and inductive loading.
Inductive Loading (Lead Length)
A significant element in this circuit is the inductance shown in the input ground
leads of the oscilloscope probe.
Probe equivalent circuit
The ground lead is the primary return path for the current resulting from the
input voltage acting on the probe’s input impedance. The ground lead and input
lead inductances act with the probe’s input capacitance to form series LC
network. The impedance of a series LC network drops dramatically at its
resonant frequency. This is the cause of the "ring" we often see after the
leading edge of pulses in measured waveforms.

User Manual
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This effect is referred to as ground lead corruption. Because it is impossible to
eliminate either the L or C from this circuit, the method to improve waveform
fidelity is to raise the resonant frequency beyond the bandwidth of interest in
the measurement.
The resonant frequency of a simple LC circuit can be represented by:

 = 1
2√
The resonant frequency of a series LC circuit can be raised by decreasing the
inductance, capacitance or both. Since the input capacitance is already very
low and cannot be reduced, you can only try to reduce the inductance. This can
be accomplished by using the shortest possible input lead as well as the
shortest possible ground lead.
For example, to obtain the shortest possible ground lead when measuring IC
related signals, attach a small piece of copper clad material to the top of the IC
package and connect this to the package grounding wires.
Using the shortest ground lead and input lead available makes probing signals
on the package easier and makes for the shortest lead length for the best
signal fidelity. To illustrate how dramatic this effect is, we will work a simple
example. Assuming an input capacitance of 0.6 pF and a total lead length
(input and ground) of 2 inches (inductance of ≈ 25 nH/inch) such a setup may
cause ringing with a resonant frequency (f0) of:

=1
2√50 ∗10−9 ∗0.6 ∗10−12 = 920 
This frequency is well within the passband of the probe and therefore shows up
as part of the measured signal at faster time/div settings.
To determine how fast a waveform to be measured can be without causing
ringing on a probe like this, divide the BW (ringing frequency) of the probe into
0.35:
 = 0.35
 = 0.35 920  = 380 
Any input signal with a rise time faster than 380 ps can cause ringing.

ZS4000 High-Impedance Active Probe
14
Capacitive Loading
Capacitive loading is usually the most troublesome of the three loading effects.
It can affect the rise time, bandwidth and delay time measurements. At higher
frequencies the capacitive loading can affect the amplitude as well as the
waveshape of the measured signal by introducing an exponential response to
the waveform.
For a simple RC network the time constant of this exponential response is:
 = 2.2 ×  × 
Where Ctotal is the combined probe and circuit capacitance and Rtotal is combined
circuit and probe resistance.
For a setup where Ct = 0.6 pF and a source resistance is 250 Ω, the measured
rise time will be 330 ps, which will correspond to a bandwidth of 909 MHz,
assuming no inductive loads.
 = 2.2 × 0.6 × 10−12 × 250 Ω= 330 ps
Parallel combination of 250 Ω and 1 MΩ is still 250 Ω
Probe input equivalent circuit
To illustrate the effect of capacitive loading at higher frequencies:
•At frequency 750 MHz the reactance of the 0.6 pF capacitance is 354 Ω
•At frequency 1.0 GHz the reactance has been lowered to 265 Ω
If, at a given frequency, the source impedance is large with respect to the input
impedance, a measurable reduction in the output signal amplitude may occur.
 = 
 +  × 

User Manual
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where Zprobe is the probe’s input impedance and Zsource
is the source
impedance.
For example: At 750 MHz, where the probe input impedance has reduced to
354 Ω, and a source resistance of 250 Ω the probe output amplitude is reduced
to:
 = 354
354 + 250 = 0.59 ∗

ZS4000 High-Impedance Active Probe
16
Performance Verification
This procedure can be used to verify the warranted characteristics of the
ZS4000 High Impedance Active Probe. It tests:
•Output Zero Voltage
•LF Attenuation Accuracy
Performance verification can be completed without removing the probe covers
or exposing the user to hazardous voltages.
NOTE: The correct operation of the ZS4000 controls requires software version
7.1.1.2 or higher. The oscilloscope software version can be verified by going to
Utilities > Utilities Setup > Status. Contact your local Teledyne LeCroy
representative or visit teledynelecroy.com if the software in your oscilloscope
requires updating.
Required Test Equipment
This procedure has been developed to minimize the number of calibrated test
instruments required. Only equipment listed in boldface must be calibrated to
the accuracy indicated. Because the input and output connector types may
vary on different brands and models of test instruments, additional adaptors or
cables may be required.
The warranted characteristics of the probe are valid at any temperature within
the Operating Environment (p.3) listed in this manual. However, some of the
other test equipment used to verify the performance may have environmental
limitations required to meet the accuracy needed for the procedure. Be sure
that the ambient conditions meet the requirements of all the test equipment
used in his procedure.
NOTE: The function generator used in this Performance Verification Procedure
is used for making relative measurements. Because the output of the generator
is measured with an oscilloscope in this procedure, it is not required to
calibrate the generator.

User Manual
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Description
Minimum Requirement
Example Equipment
Oscilloscope
ProBus Interface; Windows-
based
Teledyne LeCroy WaveRunner
6 Zi or
WaveSurfer MXs-B
Digital Multimeter
(DMM) with test
probe leads
4.5 digit
DC: 0.1% Accuracy
AC: 0.1% Accuracy
Keysight 34401A
Fluke 8842A-09
Function
Generator
Sine Wave output Amplitude
adjustable to 14.14 Vp-p (5
Vrms) into
1 MΩ at 70 Hz
Keysight 33120A
Stanford Research DS340
Power Supply
0-12 V, settable to 10 mV
HP E3611A
BNC Coaxial Cable
(2 ea.)
Male to Male, 50 Ω,
36" Cable
Pomona 2249-C-36
Pomona 5697-36
BNC Tee
Connector
Male to Dual Female
Pomona 3285
Calibration Fixture
ProBus Extender Cable
Teledyne LeCroy
PROBUS-CF01
Terminator,
Precision, BNC
50 Ω ± 0.05%
Teledyne LeCroy
TERM-CF01
Banana Plug
Adapter (2 ea.)
Female BNC to Dual Banana
Plug
Pomona 1269
BNC to
Mini-grabber
BNC Mail to Mini-grabber
Cable, 36”
Pomona 5187-C-36

ZS4000 High-Impedance Active Probe
18
Test Setup and Preliminary Procedure
1. Connect the probe to the female end of the ProBus Extension Cable.
Connect the male end of the ProBus Extension Cable to channel 1 of the
oscilloscope.
2. Turn on the oscilloscope and allow at least 20 minutes warm-up time for
the probe and oscilloscope before performing the Verification Procedure.
3. Turn on the other test equipment and allow them to warm up for the
manufacturer’s recommended timeframe.
4. While the instruments are reaching operating temperature, make a
photocopy of the Performance Verification Test Record and fill in the
necessary data.
Functional Check
The functional check verifies the basic operation of the probe functions.
Perform the Functional Check prior to the Performance Verification.
1. Return to the factory default settings:
•Choose File > Recall Setup from the menu bar.
•Touch the Recall Default button.
2. Touch the C1 descriptor box to open the C1 dialog.
3. Verify that oscilloscope senses the probe and the correct model is
displayed on the probe dialog tab behind the C1 dialog.