Software plug-in hastens double pulse testing

Engineers can quickly define pulse parameters from a single window on the AFG31000’s large touchscreen display and then generate the pulses they need to perform testing – all in under a minute.

The application offers impedance adjustment of pulse width and the time gap between each pulse, up to 30 pulses. Pulse widths can range from 20ns to 150µs.

“The new Double Pulse Test plugin is another example of how our new AFG31000 makes it easy to set up test systems, quickly change parameters and run through a range of test cases with high efficiency and stability,” said Chris Bohn, vice president and general manager of the Keithley Product Line at Tektronix. “This represents a huge increase in productivity for power engineers, translating into significant cost savings and shorter time to market.”

Double pulse testing is used by researchers and design and test engineers in the power and semiconductor industries to measure and evaluate the switching parameters and dynamic behaviour of power devices, including those made from wide bandgap materials such as Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN).

To perform a double pulse test, an engineer needs to precisely generate at least two voltage pulses with varying pulse widths and timing to trigger a MOSFET or IGBT power device.

Measurements are taken with an oscilloscope like a Tektronix 5 Series MSO. However, generating these pulses has been challenging with today’s test equipment, forcing researchers and engineers to manually create waveforms using PCs or microcontrollers – a time-consuming and error-prone approach.

Introduced last year, the AFG31000 features a large nine-inch touchscreen, a new user interface, the patented InstaView technology feature that automatically detects and compensates for impedance mismatches, programmable waveform sequencing, and a new ArbBuilder tool for easily creating and editing arbitrary waveforms.

The instruments are available in 1- or 2-channel configurations and deliver 14-bit vertical resolution along with 250 MSa/s, 1 GSa/s or 2 GSa/s sample rate performance. Prices start at € 2.130 / £ 1,800 / $ 2.440.

Available now, customers can download the Double Pulse Test software for the AFG31000 free of charge from the tek.com website.