Keysight Technologies CX3300 Series Device Current Waveform Analyzer

The Keysight CX3300 Series Device Current Waveform Analyzer is suitable for researchers struggling with high-speed transient current measurements during advanced device characterisation, as well as engineers working to reduce power/current consumption in low-power devices. The company claims it is the first analyser enabling a minimum of 100 pA level dynamic current measurements with a maximum of 200 MHz bandwidth, 1 GSa/s sampling rate and 14- or 16-bit wide dynamic range.

Characterising advanced devices and evaluating low-power devices are challenging tasks and often require engineers to measure high-speed (over 1 MHz) and low-level dynamic current (below 1 μA). However, the existing methodology for this measurement is plagued by issues such as large noise, voltage drop, limited dynamic range and bandwidth. As a result, low-level dynamic current often goes undetected and unmeasured. The device overcomes this by enabling the simultaneous measurement of wideband and low-level current waveforms. By providing a 14- or 16-bit wide dynamic measurement range, a single instrument can meet various measurement requirements without using multiple instruments.

A graphical user interface on a WXGA 14.1″ multitouch display, and measurement and analysis software, makes previously difficult low-level current waveform measurements and analyses more efficient and easier to make. Users can measure transient current even if the pulse width is very narrow (less than 100 ns). This capability is particularly beneficial for device engineers developing semiconductor or advanced memory devices, as it allows them to visualise previously unmeasurable waveforms.