Siborg Systems Inc. Highlighted in Manufacturing Today

Manufacturing today interviewed Siborg Systems Inc. about the future of LCR test devices and software including a new LCR-Reader model and updates to semiconductor process and device simulator

In Volume 18, Issue 3 of Manufacturing Today, Kat Zeman interviewed Siborg Systems Inc. about their future plans for their popular LCR test devices and software division. Michael Obrecht, the director of Siborg, shone light on a new LCR-Reader device in the near future and updates to popular MicroTec software for semiconductor and process simulation.

Siborg’s LCR-Reader LCR and ESR-meters are handheld multimeters with 0.5% basic accuracy and no set-up component testing. The device quickly tests components with just a touch; when the tweezers have contact with a component, LCR-Reader quickly determines the type of component and best test parameters. The measurement values, including main impedance value, any secondary values (ESR), component type and test frequency used are instantly displayed on the OLED screen. All LCR-Reader devices come with NIST traceable calibration certificates and are equipped with gold-plated tweezer tips that can grasp loose and mounted components, even on crowded PCBs.

Michael Obrecht spoke about a new model of LCR-Reader that will be available in 2018, “It will be a powerful multimeter, more refined, less bulky and more fine-tuned. We have improved the appearance of the device, performance and overall functionality. We have included a three-volt LED test, and one-volt signal component testing for ceramic capacitors. It will also have a lower signal-to-noise ratio; this will improve the accuracy for testing lower value inductances and capacitors.”

Obrecht also went into detail about Siborg refocusing on their software, including new ideas for very fast software tools for thermal design. “We are planning on enhancing the functionality of MicroTec, including the thermal analysis built into the semiconductor device simulator. This program is sold to a lot of semiconductor manufacturers and educational markets.”

MicroTec is an easy-to-use semiconductor process and device simulator that is computationally extensive for simulations for power semiconductor devices with large dimensions or solar cells. The program is notably useful for device built with wide band gap material or built with SiC. It is used by more than 100 universities in 25 countries and by more than 35 companies worldwide. The program’s staying power comes from the ability to run using a few megabytes of RAM and is more robust and faster than similar programs.

MicroTec includes 3 main software tools; SemSim for steady-state 2-D simulations, SibGraf for 1-D and 2-D graphics and SiDif for 2-D simulation of implantation, oxidation and diffusion.

“The ability to quickly customize the software is a main selling point, especially for small companies. Maybe our software can do 90% of what they want, well, we can quickly modify the software to better suit their needs and that is very important to them. We also provide 24/7 support, which is much higher than competitors. WE serve pretty much anybody that does work on electronic circuit boards, it’s a very wide community.

Besides LCR-Reader, Siborg offers other test equipment for surface mount technology, including the LCR-Reader-MP and Smart Tweezers devices. Both are fully automatic devices with tweezer probes with 0.1% and 0.2% basic accuracy respectively. The LCR-Reader-MP includes Large Cap measurements, oscilloscope mode and wider range of test signals. Smart Tweezers devices have a few less features while still offering high accuracy and fast measurements. The oscilloscope mode is exceptionally helpful when used with the LCR-Reader/Smart Tweezers Kelvin Probe Connector. This kit comes with 5 different attachments and allows users to measure components that are too large to fit between the tweezers’ gap; it also can measure wave-forms at various nodes on a PCB.

The Smart Tweezers ST5S-BT2 is a Bluetooth enabled device that allows users to send and receive measurement data in real time, remotely over Bluetooth connection. The ability to record all measurement data for processing is exceptionally helpful for incoming quality control.

Read the interview between Siborg Systems Inc. and Kat Zeman in Volume 18, Issue 3 of Manufacturing Today.