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October 1, 2019 - Vista, California -
Axiom Test Equipment, an electronic test equipment
rentals and sales company headquartered in North County San Diego, has published
a blog post entitled "Pack a Punch for High-Power Semiconductor Device Testing ,"
explaining how to source the right electronic load for your next project.
Pack a Punch for High-Power Semiconductor Device Testing
Semiconductor devices are rapidly gaining in
output-power capabilities, whether used in continuous-wave (CW) circuits or in pulsed
applications. Because they have continued to increase power levels while remaining
at such smaller sizes, power semiconductors have made vacuum-tube devices such as
klystrons, magnetrons, and travelling-wave tubes (TWTs) all but forgotten except
for designs at the highest power levels. But packing so much power into such small
semiconductor chips and packaged devices poses the problem of properly testing these
devices, for such parameters as breakdown voltage, leakage power, maximum output
power, and typical operating lifetimes. Last month's blog reviewed ways to perform
capacitance-voltage (CV) measurements; this month's blog will look at high-power
semiconductors and some of the best and most reliable ways to test them for their
most essential characteristics.
Of course, "high" is a relative term and there is no generally accepted definition
for what constitutes high output power for any type of transistor, such as a bipolar
or a field-effect transistor (FET). Each type of power semiconductor device, whether
on wafer in chip form or in packaged form, must be tested for a set of characteristics
by which a device supplier or circuit designer can determine whether that device
can perform under various current and voltage (I-V) conditions. Typically, a power
semiconductor is swept through a range of minimum to maximum current and voltage
values, with constant or pulsed power, during a process known as curve tracing,
testing for trends in device behavior over those ranges.
To do this, high-power semiconductor test equipment must serve as a very precise
power supply, with current and voltage limits that typically exceed the range of
the power supply to be used in a desired application. The test equipment must also
be capable of accurately measuring the voltage, current, and power at each of a
transistor gates or ports of other semiconductors, such as diodes or integrated
circuits (ICs). Traditional test tools have provided supply and analysis functions
as separate instruments although current trends in integration and modularity have
resulted in more high-power semiconductor testers that provide precision power sources
and high-power analyzers within the same instrument enclosure, with high-resolution
display screens and software to automate the measurements.
If you would like help selecting any type of test equipment for your project,
contact Axiom Test Equipment's sales department at
sales@transcat.com,
call 760-806-6600, or browse Axiom Test Equipment's inventory online at
www.axiomtest.com.
About Axiom Test Equipment
Get Exactly What You Need. Rent - Buy
- Repair - Trade-In
Established in 2005, Axiom Test Equipment strives to continually improve itself
and offer the best value for its customers. We offer our customers several practical,
efficient and cost effective solutions for their business or projects' test equipment
needs. Whether you need to
rent &
buy test equipment, repair test equipment, sell or trade equipment, we are committed
to providing superior customer service and high quality electronic test equipment.
At Axiom Test Equipment we provide several services. We
rent electronic
test and measurement equipment. We also sell test equipment. If you have a piece
of malfunctioning or broken test equipment we also have an in-house repair lab.
For anyone seeking a way to offload their surplus or obsolete equipment, we offer
a trade-in program or we can buy the equipment from you.
We stock a comprehensive inventory of equipment and can use our extensive network
to find you those hard to get items. We believe in getting equipment to you quickly
and at a competitive price.
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Semiconductor devices are rapidly gaining in
output-power capabilities, whether used in continuous-wave (CW) circuits or in pulsed
applications. Because they have continued to increase power levels while remaining
at such smaller sizes, power semiconductors have made vacuum-tube devices such as
klystrons, magnetrons, and travelling-wave tubes (TWTs) all but forgotten except
for designs at the highest power levels. But packing so much power into such small
semiconductor chips and packaged devices poses the problem of properly testing these
devices, for such parameters as breakdown voltage, leakage power, maximum output
power, and typical operating lifetimes. Last month's blog reviewed ways to perform
capacitance-voltage (CV) measurements; this month's blog will look at high-power
semiconductors and some of the best and most reliable ways to test them for their
most essential characteristics.
Get Exactly What You Need. Rent - Buy
- Repair - Trade-In