Keithley's Model 2657A High Power System SourceMeter® Instrument Named One of EDN's 2012 Hot 100 Products


Cleveland, Ohio- Keithley Instruments, Inc., a world leader in advanced electrical test instruments and systems, announced today that the editors of EDN Magazine have named the Model 2657A High Power System SourceMeter instrument as one of the "100 Hot Products of 2012." The 2012 EDN Hot 100 highlights the electronics industry's most significant products of the year based on innovation, significance, usefulness, and popularity as determined by the publication's editorial staff. The Model 2657A is one of nine new products recognized by EDN in the Test & Measurement category this year. To learn more about the Model 2657A, please visit http://www.keithley.com/products/dcac/currentvoltage/highpower/?mn=2657A.

Lee Stauffer, senior staff technologist for Keithley's Semiconductor Measurements Group, notes, "It's very gratifying that the editors at EDN recognized the advantages that the Model 2657A offers to characterization engineers. Although some other SMU solutions on the market offer up to 3kV sourcing and measurement capabilities, their applications are relatively limited because they have just 12 watts of power, which is insufficient to characterize today's power semi devices. The Model 2657A's combination of high voltage at high power levels allows capturing important parametric data that other SMU solutions just can't."

The newest member of Keithley's extensive family of SourceMeter SMU instruments, the Model 2657A is a high voltage, high power, low current source measure unit (SMU) instrument that delivers unprecedented power, precision, speed, flexibility, and ease of use to improve productivity in R&D, production test, and reliability environments. It is designed specifically for characterizing and testing high voltage electronics and power semiconductors, such as diodes, FETs, and IGBTs, as well as other components and materials in which high voltage, fast response, and precise measurements of voltage and current are required. The Model 2657A offers a highly flexible, four-quadrant voltage and current source/load coupled with precision voltage and current meters. It supports sourcing or sinking up to 180W of DC or pulsed power (±3000V@20mA, ±1500V@120mA). The precision, high speed 6½-digit measurement engine built into the Model 2657A provides 1fA (femtoamp) current measurement resolution to address the low-leakage requirements of next-generation power semiconductor devices. Applications for the Model 2657A include power semiconductor device characterization and testing; characterization of gallium nitride (GaN), silicon carbide (SiC), and other compound materials and devices; breakdown and leakage testing to 3kV; and characterization of sub-millisecond transients.

The Model 2657A is one of the building blocks for creating Keithley's new Parametric Curve Tracer Configurations, which include everything necessary for the engineer to quickly create a complete test system for high power semiconductor device characterization.

Tektronix THS3000 Handheld Oscilloscopes Also Recognized
In addition to the Model 2657A, EDN's editors named the Tektronix THS3000 series of handheld oscilloscopes to the 2012 Hot 100 list in the Test & Measurement category. With a weight of 4.8 pounds, seven hours of battery life, and four isolated channels, the THS3000 series is built for use in demanding conditions. The 10,000-point record length on all four channels enables the capture of extra waveform details at high sample rates. Keithley Instruments joined Tektronix as part of its test and measurement portfolio in 2010.

Linda Rae, Keithley's president, noted, "Tektronix and Keithley have a common goal - to help our customers invent on a broader and deeper scale. We work toward that goal by offering complementary ranges of products that help our customers do their jobs faster, more easily, more cost-effectively, and with greater confidence. The Model 2657A, which is built on Keithley's fourth generation, industry-leading SourceMeter SMU instrument platform, not only represents our shared sense of the importance of ingenuity, precision, and simplicity, but also our on-going commitment to advancing SMU instrument technology."

The complete list of EDN's Hot 100 products for 2012 is published online at www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4401457/EDN-Hot-100-products-of-2012 and in the print edition of the December 14, 2012 issue of EDN Magazine.

For More Information
Additional information on the Model 2657A is available on Keithley's website at www.keithley.com/products/dcac/currentvoltage/highpower/?mn=2657A, including an informative product tour: keithley.adobeconnect.com/p4v5i4h6zu8/. To learn more about Keithley, contact the company at:

Telephone:
888-534-8453
440-248-0400
FAX: 440-248-6168
E-mail: publisher@keithley.com
Internet:www.keithley.com
Keithley Instruments, Inc.
28775 Aurora Road
Cleveland, OH 44139-1891

About Keithley Instruments, Inc.
With more than 60 years of measurement expertise, Keithley Instruments has become a world leader in advanced electrical test instruments and systems. Our customers are scientists and engineers in the worldwide electronics industry involved with advanced materials research, semiconductor device development and fabrication, and the production of end products such as portable wireless devices. The value we provide them is a combination of products for their critical measurement needs and a rich understanding of their applications to improve the quality of their products and reduce their cost of test. In 2010, Keithley Instruments joined Tektronix as part of its test and measurement portfolio.

Contact:

Laurel Brennan
Keithley Instruments, Inc.
440-498-2567
lbrennan@keithley.com
Reader Inquiries:

1-888-534-8453
www.twitter.com/keithleyinst

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