News: Suppliers
1 June 2023
Tektronix releases oscilloscope-based Double Pulse Test solution
Test, measurement and monitoring solutions supplier Tektronix Inc of Beaverton, OR, USA has announced a new release of its Double Pulse Test (WBG-DPT) solution (available now for global customers). With new wide-bandgap switching devices enabling significant advances in electric vehicles, solar energy and industrial controls, the WBG-DPT solution has the ability to provide automated, repeatable and accurate measurements on wide-bandgap devices such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) MOSFETs, says the firm.
Designers of next-generation power converters can now be able to quickly utilize the WBG-DPT solution to optimize their designs. With the ability to run on Tektronix 4, 5 and 6 Series MSO oscilloscopes, integrating seamlessly into the measurement system of the oscilloscopes, the WBG-DPT solution is claimed to have several industry-first measurement capabilities, such as an automatic WBG de-skew technique, and reverse recovery timing plots, making it easier for engineers to see reverse recovery details for multiple pulses overlaid on a single display. Measurements are also designed to align with JEDEC and IEC standards for double pulse testing and diode reverse recovery.
“Tektronix customers are the designers of the next generation of cutting-edge power electronics technology, and their designs must be optimized to balance efficiency, size and reliability,” says Daryl Ellis, mainstream portfolio general manager. “The design of the Tektronix WBG-DPT solution will allow for simplified debugging, repeatable measurements (per JEDEC and IEC standards) and a faster learning curve. Test automation reduces test times and re-testing errors, ensuring our customers meet their project timelines and time-to-market plans,” he adds.
“The WBG-DPT software provides instantaneous measurements of key parameters, like EON, EOFF and QRR when performing double-pulse tests,” comments Masashi Nogawa, staff systems engineer at Qorvo. “The software makes the power waveform and markers showing the integration ranges used to calculate the energy losses immediately visible. This is an excellent alternative to exporting waveform data into Excel spreadsheets for processing.”
To achieve meaningful energy loss measurements, designers must correct for delays introduced by test fixtures and probes. The traditional technique for aligning drain-to-source voltage (VDS) and drain current (ID) measurements requires re-wiring the test setup and careful pre-test measurements.
Key features of WBG-DPT solution
The WBG-DPT solution’s industry-first WBG de-skew technique eliminates the need for re-wiring and may even be performed after double pulse measurements have been taken. To simulate the effects of delays in the test setup, the software generates an alignment waveform. The engineer adjusts a few settings to match the alignment waveform with the measured waveform, as the software corrects any differences in delays. This new process reduces the de-skew time from an hour or more to just 5–10 minutes.
Since power converters must operate over a wide range of temperature conditions, there is a growing need to measure output charge (QOSS) at different junction temperatures. The WBG-DPT solution makes fast and accurate QOSS measurements, providing important insight into the effects of device output capacitance.
With the WBG-DPT solution, industry-first reverse recovery timing plots make it easy for engineers to see reverse recovery details for multiple pulses overlaid on a single display. Measurements are made per JEDEC and IEC standards, and users can configure measurements in WBG solution to query results on every first or second pulse, or all pulses of a double pulse set. This unique approach to reverse recovery plotting allows for multiple double pulse sets and provides visual and measurement results on each set. The measurement provides the ability to easily zoom in on the reverse recovery region and even debug reverse recovery parameters of the system.
