March 23, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — Test system supplier Keithley Instruments Inc. introduced the Model 2657A High Power System SourceMeter instrument, adding high voltage test to its line of high speed, precision source measurement units for power semiconductors. The test tool sources up to 5x power to the device under test (DUT) than competitive systems, Keithley asserts.

The Model 2657A uses a built-in 3,000V, 180W source. Its high-speed 6-1/2-digit measurement engine enables 1 femtoamp (fA) current measurement resolution. It tests power semiconductor devices — diodes, FETs, and IGBTs — as well as gallium nitride (GaN), silicon carbide (SiC), and other compound semiconductor materials. It can characterize high-speed transients and perform breakdown and leakage tests on a variety of electronic devices at up to 3,000V.

The Series 2600A family offers four-quadrant voltage and current source/load coupled with precision voltage and current meters. The Model 2657A combines functionality from multiple instruments in a single full-rack enclosure: semiconductor characterization instrument, precision power supply, true current source, 6-1/2-digit DMM, arbitrary waveform generator, voltage or current pulse generator, electronic load, and trigger controller, and is fully expandable into a multi-channel, tightly synchronized system via Keithley