ADVANTEST 6240B DC Voltage Current Source/Monitor

ADVANTEST 6240B DC Voltage Current Source/Monitor

Capable of high-speed response pulse source, 5½-digit measurement and highprecision low-resistance measurement 

Source and measurement range Voltage: 0 to ±15 V, Current: 0 to ±4 A (1 A for DC) 

Source and measurement accuracy: ±0.02 % 

Measurement display of 5½ digits with resolution of 1 μV/100 pA 

Source/sink of ±4 A for the maximum pulse width of 20 ms 

Pulse measurement with minimum pulse width of 50 μs and 1 μs step 

Sink-enabled bipolar output 

Low-resistance measurement canceling thermal electromotive force for conductive materials

Semiconductor test with high-speed pulses avoiding heat generation Contact resistance measurement that cancels thermal EMF

The DC Voltage Current Source/Monitor 6240B not only maintains the performance of the 6240A but also adopts newly high-speed response pulse source and measurement function and a low-resistance measurement function that cancels thermal EMF (electromotive force). It has 4½-digit display for voltage and current source and 5½-digit display for measurement, and features high accuracy of ±0.02 %. There are four types of sweep modes available: liner, fixed, random and 2-slope linear sweep, and also pulse measurement with a minimum pulse width of 50 µs is available. Thus, this model can be widely used as evaluation power supply for developing semiconductors and other electronic components and as power supply of characteristic test systems used in production lines. The maximum 4 A pulse source or pulse load function is suitable for evaluating small devices with larger current capacities, and the HI/LO limiter separate setting function has an advantage for evaluating LEDs, batteries and power ICs. Also, low-resistance test of connectors and low-resistance measurement of conductive materials according to JIS are possible. Moreover, the 6240B is capable of highprecision contact resistance measurement that cancels thermal EMF generated on metal contact surfaces.

Wider applications with various voltage and current source modes and limiter separate setting

Voltage and Current Source Mode

There are four source modes; DC, pulse, DC sweep, pulse sweep. Then, the sweep modes are classified into four sweep types: fixed sweep, linear sweep, random sweep (arbitrary waveform generation by user programming), 2-slope linear sweep (linear sweep with step value switching). The minimum pulse width is 50 μs. The minimum cycle is 2 ms, or 500 μs without measurement.

HI/LO Limiter Separate Setting

In voltage or current source, the HI/LO limiter settings are very important. For current source, the limiter voltage must be higher than the applied voltage. When voltage higher than the limiter voltage is applied from the outside, the instrument detects overload and sets standby. When a capacitor is discharged after being charged at a constant current with the positive and negative limiters being set to the same value, overload occurs if the limiter voltage is lowered. In addition, it is discharged down to negative voltage when applying reverse polarity current. However, the 6240B allows separate setting of HI and LO limiters. Furthermore, for the voltage-limiter, both HI and LO limiters can be set homo-polar. This prevents a capacitor or a battery from being over-discharged. Also, it is suitable for evaluating devices that are used at a constant current and do not tolerate reverse voltage application.

High-speed response, low-noise and high-precision testing Suitable for system architect by output ON/OFF without relay switching

Suspend Function

The 6240B can select from three output OFF statuses; STBY (output relay OFF), HiZ (output relay ON and high resistance), and LoZ (output relay ON and low resistance). Using this function can omit unnecessary relay ON/OFF operations, and consequently solve conventional problems: 

 Prevents throughput reduction due to relay operating time. 

 Extends relay lifetime and increases product reliability. 

In addition, the setting of a suspend voltage (voltage in HiZ and LoZ status) can prevent transient current from being generated when connecting voltage sourcing devices such as batteries.

High-Speed Response and Low Noise

The following shows a representative response waveform and output noise. The response between 0 V and 10 V is approximately 30 µs at 0 to 90 % rising time and the output noise is approximately 2.4 mV p-p from DC to 20 MHz

Low Resistance Measurement of Conductive Materials

The 6240B newly adopts the low-resistance measurement function. When there is a temperature difference between the measurement cable and the DUT, thermal EMF (voltage: Vd) will be generated. Such thermal EMF becomes a significant cause of errors in lowresistance measurement at mΩ order or less. These errors can be canceled by switching the polarity of measurement current. Former models use sample software to cancel thermal EMF in measurement, however the 6240B can cancel it without the software. Consequently, low-resistance test of connectors and low-resistance measurement of conductive materials are possible. Moreover, the 6240B is capable of high-precision contact resistance measurement that cancels thermal EMF generated on the contact surfaces of metals such as wire harness.