Floating power source opens way to test high voltage ICs

Designed with eight floating channels and four-quadrant operation, the system can be used to provide up to 80V and up to 10A per channel. The eight-channel PVI8 can be ganged up to ±80A for high-power stress testing of devices under test (DUTs) at their maximum ratings. For testing high-voltage supplies, the PVI8 can be stacked up to ±160V due to its floating design.

The unit’s measurement ranges are independent of the force ranges so operators may switch between ranges without subjecting DUTs to voltage or current spikes, powering down, latch up or device damage.

With its native pattern-controlled operation, the PVI8 does not need to interact with the test system CPU during power tests, leading to extremely fast test times. Highly stable measurements are achieved by maintaining a constant pattern speed as well as using short power pulses to prevent heating of the DUTs.

Each power VI channel has its own test processor and a large 56-MB memory, enabling efficient operation of the 16-bit arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) and fully pattern-controlled digitiser. The test processors’ high-capacity memories eliminate the need to reload waveforms of pattern-based instruments during program runs, allowing multiple tests to be performed within a single pattern sequence.

Advantest’s PVI8 floating source is shipping now to customers worldwide. The system is available as a factory-installed option on V93000 testers or as a field upgrade.