Technologies that press the limits of test

Q: What emerging technologies present the biggest challenges to the test field?

A: Wireless is generating many new transmission and reception protocols, including the merging of voice and data so that we can perform more functions on our cellphones. At Keithley, we’ve been focusing particular attention on the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radio architecture. Here, our challenge is to test multiple transmitters and receivers simultaneously, which adds complexity to the measurements that have to be made and to the data analysis that has to be done.

Among other emerging areas, we see new challenges from nanotechnology and from the shrinking geometries in semiconductors. In these applications, Keithley brings to bear one of its core competencies, very low current and voltage measurement. Our instruments also must address the thermal energy that devices are subject to during tests, so you see more use of pulse techniques to limit device self-heating.

Q: How is Keithley getting involved in development of nanotech innovations?

A: Most of our participation today is in the research area, where we have established partnerships with such centers as the NanoSystems Institute at UCLA and France’s CEA Leti Lab. Here again, we are lending our skills in low-level measurement to researchers whose expertise is in designing and characterizing nanodevices.

Among the Keithley instruments used in this work are our Models 6220 and 6221 current sources, our high-accuracy electrometers and picoammeters, and our Model 4200-SCS Semiconductor Characterization System. Last year, we also introduced a new line of SourceMeter instruments with femtoamp resolution for making very high-speed I-V measurements.

Q: How about your involvement in alternative energy sources?

A: We’ve worked with fuel-cell manufacturers and researchers, as well as in the testing and characterization of photovoltaic cells for solar energy. Much of our work in fuel cells is still in research applications, since our instruments are more suited for testing lower-power fuel cells targeted for portable consumer electronics. Many of the same instruments mentioned earlier are being used in these applications.

Our SourceMeter instruments, for example, are very well-suited for solar-cell applications, where you are working with basic DC I-V curves. You can create multiple channels for testing solar-cell arrays by connecting the SourceMeter instruments with our new Series 3700 Switch System and Multimeter to achieve very high throughput and excellent measurement accuracy.

Q: What are some key innovations that you see in wireless technology?

A: There’s a lot of exciting work being done in this field. I recently visited South Korea’s Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), where researchers are working on 8x8 MIMO and pushing communications capabilities in both mobility and bandwidth. Their goal is to design a wireless system that would allow you to drive your car at high speeds and still get 3 Gbps of data coming into your wireless device.

Q: How important is customer collaboration to product development?

A: Every time we have a new product concept, the first thing we do is conduct a lot of voice-of-the-customer work, including getting input from customer companies all around the world. We want to understand not just what customers want today but also a year or two from now when they are bringing new products to market. So, customer input is by far the dominating factor in our new product development.

Read the continuation of this interview.