Femto/picoammeter, electrometer enhance R&D into new materials

2nd September 2014

Keysight Technologies (formerly Agilent)

Mick Elliott

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Datasheet

The B2980A Series of graphical femto/picoammeters and electrometers from Keysight Technologies can confidently measure down to 0.01fA which is 0.01 x 10-15A, and up to 10 petaohms (PΩ) which is 10 x 1015Ohms. In recent years, research and development into new materials, such as nanomaterial, graphene, polymers and dielectric material, has increased significantly.

While such materials are expected to be enablers for a wide-range of new applications, working with these new materials requires highly sensitive electronic measurement. However, making those measurements with a high degree of confidence is challenging.

The new meters have a 2pA to 20mA operating range and an internal 1000 V source, as well as a host of innovative capabilities designed to optimise measurement confidence.

A battery operation mode eliminates the effect of any AC power noise on measurements and enables detection of previously hidden signals.

A time-domain view makes it easy to capture transient signal effects as well as select the desired measurement data.

A real-time histogram display enables quick statistical analysis of measurement data – a capability previously only available on an external PC. Because the display is continuously updated on a real-time basis, users can quickly debug their measurement environment and setup. This eliminates any ambiguity between the measurement environment and setup and the measurement data.

A Test Setup Integrity function and dedicated accessories is designed to ensure maximum measurement accuracy. In sensitive measurement applications, setting up the appropriate cabling and equipment connections can be quite difficult. Conventional picoammeters and electrometers fail to address issues related to test setup, such as external cabling. With the meters optional setup integrity checker function, users can now more easily isolate causes of noise.