North Shore Components now offers in-house electrical testing with the Sony Tektronix® 370 Programmable Curve Tracer.
There are two main types of electrical test, parametric and functional. The Tek 370 is a type of parametric tester that examines key electrical characteristics of the semiconductor devices under test (DUTs). Curve tracer test is also called “pin test” (as opposed to PIND test). The Tek 370 is an instrument that can parametrically test ALL semiconductor types, whether made from germanium, silicon, gallium arsenide, III-V’s, or exotic materials. This includes ICs of all types; analog, digital, mixed-signal, RFICs, and discrete devices of all types such as diodes, transistors, LEDs, surge suppressors, etc.
The Tek 370 works by applying a swept voltage to the main terminals of the DUT and measuring the resulting current. This generates a graphical display of the V-I (voltage versus current) characteristics on a CRT. The curve tracer uses continuously variable control of test parameters such as voltages and currents, polarity, pulse width, etc. With special settings, the voltage and current capability can be extended to a range that also permits measurements on power semiconductors such as SCRs, traics, power modules, etc.
For two terminal devices such as diodes, the curve tracer measures parameters such as forward voltage, reverse leakage current, and reverse breakdown voltage. For 3-terminal devices such as transistors, the Tek 370 applies steps of current or voltage to the device input terminals and displays the V-I response at its output terminals. Bipolar devices (BJTs) have a stepped current input, while field effect devices (FETs) have stepped voltage inputs. By sweeping through the full range of main terminal voltages with each step of input, the Tek 370 generates a characteristic family of V-I curves. These curve families contain a great deal of information about a semiconductor device that can be checked against the OCM’s spec sheets, and can identify problems before functional test is even initiated. This information is recorded digitally in color photos in JPG format and inserted into our reports.
Additionally, the Tek 370, by nature of its operation, can easily indicate certain time-varying electrical instabilities and discontinuities that a large functional tester could actually miss. In fact, many test houses perform a Tek 370 curve tracer parametric test, or pin test, before or in addition to a full functional test. Opens, shorts, instabilities or discontinuities in ICs and discretes, can indicate invisible internal damage that can be caused by counterfeiters’ mishandling of devices. This mishandling typically occurs during counterfeiters’ removal of the devices from scrap circuit boards, clean-up, de-marking and re-marking, lead straightening, re-plating or re-coating, etc. Thus, a curve tracer test can indicate the presence of such internal damage and degradation as cracked dice, EOS or ESD electrical damage, damaged wire bonds, liquid intrusion and internal corrosion, etc. This internal damage will not be detected by x-rays, yet detection with the 370 does not require the expense and turn time of a full functional test. Some of the foregoing are insidious failure mechanisms that can result in serious field failures.
The Tektronix 370 also permits two devices to be compared by toggling between them , so that the characteristics of a known-good, or “gold”, or authentic, device can be quickly compared to a suspect device.
For more information on in-house curve tracer testing from North Shore Components, contact us today.
