Keithley 2461 – Graphical SMU Source Meter (100V, 10A, 1000W)

Keithley 2461 – Graphical SMU Source Meter (100V, 10A, 1000W)

The 2461 High Current SourceMeter® Source Measure Unit (SMU) Instrument brings advanced Touch, Test, Invent® technology right to your fingertips. It combines an innovative graphical user interface (GUI) with capacitive touchscreen technology to make testing intuitive and minimize the learning curve to help engineers and scientists learn faster, work smarter, and invent easier. With its 10 A/1000 W pulse current and 7 A/100 W DC current capability combined with dual 18-bit 1MS/s digitizers, the 2461 is optimized for characterizing and testing high power materials, devices, and modules, such as silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN), DCDC converters, circuit protection devices, solar cells and panels, high brightness LEDs and lighting systems, electrochemical cells and batteries, and much more. These new capabilities, combined with Keithley’s expertise in high precision, high accuracy SMU instruments, will make the 2461 a “go-to instrument” for high current sourcing and high speed measurement applications in the lab and in the rack for years to come.

To help users who wish to transition to the 2461 from Keithley’s legacy 2420, 2425, 2430, and 2440 SMUs, the 2461 now includes four SCPI emulation modes for each of the older models, minimizing SCPI code rewriting and maximizing your investment.

The 2461’s home screen makes testing intuitive and helps minimize the learning curve for new users.

The graphical SMU’s icon-based menu structure helps even novice users configure tests quickly and confidently.

Learn Faster, Work Smarter, Invent Easier

The 2461 features a five-inch, full-color, high resolution touchscreen that supports intuitive operation, helps operators become familiar with the instrument quickly, and optimizes overall speed and productivity. A simple icon-based menu structure reduces the number of steps required to configure a test by as much as 50 percent and eliminates the cumbersome multi-layer menu structures typically used on soft-key instruments. Built-in, context sensitive help supports intuitive operation and minimizes the need to review a separate manual. These capabilities, combined with the 2461’s high versatility, simplify its operation in both basic and advanced measurement applications, regardless of the user’s previous experience in working with SMU instruments.

The high speed digitizing function allows capturing and displaying voltage and current measurements simultaneously

Capture Real Device Operation with the Built-in Dual 1 MS/sec Digitizers

Capturing and displaying real device operation, waveforms, and transient events just got easier with the 2461’s digitizing function. The two built-in 1 MS/sec, 18-bit digitizers make it possible to acquire both voltage and current waveforms simultaneously without the need to use a separate instrument. The digitizing functions employ the same DC voltage and current measure ranges that the standard A/D converter uses. In addition, the voltage digitizing function uses the same DC voltage 10 GΩ input impedance levels to reduce loading significantly on the device under test (DUT).

All-in-One SMU Instrument

The 2461, built on the fourth generation of the award winning SourceMeter SMU platform, leverages the proven capabilities of previously introduced high current SMU instruments from Keithley, including the 2420, 2425, and 2440. It offers a highly flexible, four-quadrant voltage and current source/load coupled with precision voltage and current measurements. This all-in-one instrument gives you the capabilities of a:

• Precision power supply with V and I readback 
• True current source 
• Digital multimeter (DCV, DCI, ohms, and power with 6½-digit resolution) 
• Precision electronic load 
• Pulse generator 
• Trigger controller

Ease of Use Beyond the Touchscreen

In addition to its five-inch color touchscreen, the 2461 Graphical SourceMeter front panel offers a variety of features that enhance its speed, user-friendliness, and learnability, including a USB 2.0 memory I/O port, a HELP key, a rotary navigation/ control knob, a front/rear input selector button, and banana jacks for basic bench applications. The USB 2.0 memory port simplifies storing test results and instrument configurations, uploading test scripts into the instrument, and installing system upgrades. All front-panel buttons are backlit to enhance visibility in low-light environments.

The 2461’s high resolution, capacitive touchscreen and front panel controls allow for intuitive operation, even by novice users

2461 rear panel connections are optimized to maintain signal integrity and speed system setup.

Comprehensive Built-in Connectivity

Rear panel access to rear-input connectors, remote control interfaces (GPIB, USB 2.0, and LXI/Ethernet), D-sub 9-pin digital I/O port (for internal/external trigger signals and handler control), instrument interlock control, and TSP-Link® jacks make it simple to configure multiple instrument test solutions and eliminate the need to invest in additional adapter accessories.

Convert Raw Data to Information

A full graphical plotting window converts raw data and displays it immediately as useful information, such as semiconductor I-V curves and digitized waveforms. The touchscreen interface makes it easy to observe, interact with, and explore measurements with “pinch and zoom” simplicity. By using the built-in graphing cursors, you can immediately analyze your data without a PC. All graphic screens can be saved to a USB thumb drive for incorporation into reports and journals. Using the graphical SMU’s Sheet view, test data can also be displayed in tabular form. The instrument supports exporting data to a spreadsheet for further analysis, dramatically improving productivity for research, benchtop testing, device qualification, and debugging. This combination of high performance and high ease of use offers unparalleled insight into your test results.