Rohde & Schwarz power testing solutions at PCIM Expo 2025

At the company’s booth (hall 7, booth 166), the spotlight will be on solutions utilising the company’s cutting-edge test instruments to address the challenges of debugging next generation wide bandgap semiconductors like GaN and SiC.

Rigorous testing and advanced characterisation methods help design engineers enhance the performance, efficiency, and reliability of their power electronic designs based on SiC and GaN devices, used in pioneering industries like e-mobility, renewable energy or AI data centres. Rohde & Schwarz will bring a selection of its comprehensive T&M portfolio to booth 166 in hall 7 of PCIM Expo 2025, taking place from May 6 to 8 at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre. The test solutions are tailored for power electronics applications where high efficiency, fast switching speeds, improved power density and high-temperature operation matter.

Wide bandgap analysis

At the centre of the presented setups will be the R&S RT-ZISO isolated probing system from Rohde & Schwarz. This next generation isolated probe has set new standards with unprecedented accuracy, sensitivity, dynamic range and bandwidth for wide bandgap (WBG) power designs with SiC and GaN. Rohde & Schwarz will showcase the advantage of the R&S RT-ZISO over single-ended probes in a setup to investigate the switching behaviour of a GaN-MosFET.

Double pulse testing

Double pulse testing is a method for evaluating the switching performance of SiC and GaN based power devices. Rohde & Schwarz is collaborating with industry expert PE-Systems GmbH for a stable and accurate approach to double pulse testing using the MXO 5 next generation oscilloscope from Rohde & Schwarz with eight channels in combination with the R&S RT-ZISO. At PCIM, visitors can experience accurate, reliable and fast double pulse testing on 1200V SiC devices from Wolfspeed, typically used as traction inverters in the automotive industry.

Automated loadjump testing

Loadjump testing used to be a time-consuming manual process to verify a Buck converter’s load step response at varying input voltage levels, using only a few reference points. For this application, as well, Rohde & Schwarz collaborates with PE-Systems GmbH, who offers a test automation software. In combination with the MXO 5 oscilloscope and the R&S RT-ZISO isolated probing system, this solution not only reduces overall testing time but also maintains the same number of test points. At PCIM, the companies demonstrate automated loadjump testing of a Buck converter of Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. within a voltage range of 6V to 60V. The setup even allows for more reference points within the same timeframe and can be extended to include temperature control, facilitating the full automation of input voltage, load current, and temperature profile variations.

Component characterisation

Rohde & Schwarz will also showcase its solutions for component characterisation. The R&S LCX LCR meters with customised impedance measurement functions are suitable for all discrete passive components up to 10 MHz. Users can easily characterise the voltage dependence of capacitances in core components of power converters like MLCCs with the R&S LCX. Combined with a sweep software tool, users can perform comprehensive sweep measurements and display them in numerous charts. The MFIA impedance analyzer from Zurich Instruments AG (a subsidiary since 2021) is capable of impedance spectroscopy for both low impedance components such as shunt resistors and DC-link capacitors and high impedance systems. It offers measurement modes for impedance analysis over frequency and time as well as other features such as integrated oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer capabilities.

Rohde & Schwarz will present these and other advanced test solutions at PCIM Expo 2025, from May 6 to 8, at booth 166, hall 7 of Nuremberg Exhibition Centre.