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Strix Source-Measure Unit

Summary

Compact and resource efficient source-measure unit

Alshain Strix is a source-measure unit (SMU) designed & optimised for real world use-cases. A SMU is a truly general purpose DC-measurement instrument as it can both source current and voltage and measure them at the same time. Strix and most other SMUs are designed to work in a fully automated setups and therefore are suitable for testing and quality control of semiconductors and other devices at scale.


Common use cases are:

  • Semiconductor characterisation
  • Component testing
    • DC amplification
    • Leakage current
    • Power consumption
    • Insulation & contact resistance
  • Material sciences
    • Electrochemistry (potentiometry, voltammetry, coulometry)
    • Piezo electric materials
    • Superconductors
    • Thin films, graphene etc


Primary design goal for Strix is resource efficiency: compact physical size to reduce lab space requirements, cost efficient performance and ease of use and integration. As these instruments are often used in (semi)automated setups and performing complex measurements, Strix is engineered to have as clear and concise programming interface as possible without imposing any artificial restrictions. And in order to provide flexibility and scaling, Strix units are designed to be daisy-chained together when more channels or capacity is needed.


In addition to daisy-chaining, Strix units have an extra voltage input ( ±2.5V ) that enables real time monitoring of temperature, laser power, supply voltage etc. It can be used to reduce the amount of instruments needed when doing device characterisation such as LED light output measurements.


More detailed information, Python and LabView libraries, usage and examples are available at project's Github page.

Specifications

Size, capabilities and cost

  • Footprint: 130 mm x 110 mm x 30 mm
  • True four-quadrant operation
  • Max voltage: ±17 V
  • Max current: ±20 mA
  • Voltage ranges: ±17 V, ±2.5 V, ±300 mV
    • for EXT input: ±2.5 V, ±300 mV, ±35 mV
  • Current ranges: ±20 mA, ±100 µA, ±1 µA, ±10 nA
  • Resolution:
    • Voltage range Measurement Source
    ±17 V 40 µV 1 mV
    ±2.5 V 5 µV 100 µV
    ±300 mV 650 nV 10 µV
    Current range Measurement Source
    ±20 mA 20 nA 1 µA
    ±100 µA 250 pA 10 nA
    ±1 µA 2.5 pA 100 pA
    ±10 nA 25 fA 1 pA

  • EXT resolution:
    • Voltage range Measurement
    ±2.5 V 2.5 µV
    ±300 mV 300 nV
    ±35 mV 40 nV

  • Typical noise equivalent number of digits: 5 digits ( 200 ms integration time )
  • Sub-picoamp current sensitivity at 10 nA range
  • DC accuracy: 0.02 % with factory calibration
  • Up to 32 Strix units can be daisy-chained together
  • Internally temperature stabilised to minimise drifts and environmental effects
  • Connectors: 6x SMA (front panel), 1x 2.6 mm DC jack, 2x DSUB9
  • Made in Finland


Prices start from 2890 € + VAT and it can be purchased from our store or request a quote.

Code examples

Strix quick start guide with Python 
import libStrix
import serial

# replace "COM3" with corresponding port on your computer
com = serial.Serial( "COM3", 460800, timeout = 10.0 )

# Connect to SMU with address = 1 (default)
smu = libStrix.Strix( com, 1 )

# Measure both voltage and current
voltage, current = smu.measure()

IV-sweep with Python 
import sys
import serial
import time

import libStrix

# Open connection to SMU
com = serial.Serial( sys.argv[1], 460800, timeout = 25.0 )
smu = libStrix.Strix( com, 1 )

# Settings
smu.write( libStrix.PARAM_AVERAGES, 5 )
smu.write( libStrix.PARAM_AUTORANGING, libStrix.AUTORANGING_ON )

# Sweep paramters
v_start = -5.0
v_stop = 5.0
dV = 0.1

N = int( abs(v_start - v_stop) / dV ) + 1

# Perform measurements
smu.enable_output( True )


for i in range( N + 1 ):

    q = i / N
    v = v_start * ( 1 - q ) + v_stop * q

    smu.set_drive_voltage( v )

    v_meas = smu.measure_voltage()
    i_meas = smu.measure_current()

    print( v_meas, i_meas )

smu.enable_output( False )

com.close()