TSP #184 - Keithley 2470 1kV Source Measure Unit (SMU) Review, Teardown and Experiments
21.6K views
March 8, 2021 12:35 AM
In this episode Shahriar reviews the latest addition to the Keithley Graphical SMU family. The Keithley 2470 SMU offers 1100 V and 10 fA capability and is optimized for characterizing and testing high voltage, low leakage devices, materials, and modules, such as Silicon Carbide (SiC), Gallium Nitride (GaN), power MOSFETs, transient suppression devices, circuit protection devices, power modules, batteries, etc. This review is organized as follows:
00:00 – Introduction, SMU comparison, Power Envelope
02:34 – Instrument front & back overview
06:43 – Brief teardown and internal design overview
12:29 – GUI overview, high-voltage capability & interlock function
14:45 – High-voltage leakage measurement, capacitor leakage, polarity reverse at 1000V
20:12 – Varistor characterization on two quadrants, graphing capability
26:09 – Gas discharge tube characterization, stress testing & cursor measurements
30:47 – Multidimensional sweep using Kickstart software and CMOS sub-threshold measurement
41:32 – TSP script building, programming multiple SMUs with feedback functions
46:07 – Concluding remarks
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TSP #183 - Experiments & Exploration with the Amazing Vintage (1966) HP Frequency Meter Instruments
17K views
February 20, 2021 3:29 PM
In this episode Shahriar describes the operation of the vintage HP frequency meter devices. These instruments were designed in the mid-1960’s and offer extremely good performance. The principle operation is based on a quarter-wave tuned cavity which is mechanically adjusted with high precision. The cavity is coupled to the through line which causes a dip of about 1.5dB at resonance.
The internal structure and design challenges are presented. A frequency meter is then used to measure a single tone and two-tone signal with impressive accuracy. The scaler transmission response of the frequency meter is also presented.
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TSP #182 - Antikernel Labs Inexpensive Multi-GHz Transmission Line Probe Review & Experiments
23.5K views
February 7, 2021 6:57 PM
In this episode Shahriar takes a look at the design and performance of the open-source ALK-PT1 passive probe. This probe uses is based on a classical transmission line feed structure and has gone through many iterations to improve its performance. The design tradeoffs of various passive probes are explored and the performance of the ALK-PT1 is measured both in S-parameters domain and time domain using NRZ serial data at various data rates.
You can get your own AKL-PT1 Passive Probe from Antikernel Labs:
https://www.antikernel.net/products.html
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TNP #3 - Zeiss Microscope LED Upgrade & Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) Microscopy Preview
17.9K views
January 30, 2021 10:00 PM
In this episode Shahriar works on a Carl-Zeiss Axioskop with Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy. The instrument has bene meticulously restored to a working condition. The scope is retrofitted with an LED illumination source. Although not idea, it does offer good brightness and uniform illumination. An ideal source would have to be a point source.
The microscope is used to examine an integrated circuit revealing the intricate BEOL of the chip. Furthermore, DIC imaging shows the non-uniformity of the internal integrated circuit metal surfaces.
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TSP #181 - Starlink Dish Phased Array Design, Architecture & RF In-depth Analysis
156.3K views
January 10, 2021 11:31 PM
In this episode Shahriar takes a detailed look at the Starlink Satellite Dish. The dish was kindly sent by Ken who has done his own initial teardown here:
https://youtu.be/iOmdQnIlnRo
The dish is analyzed layer by layer from the radome down to individual integrated circuits. The RF design, system architecture and many aspects of the overall product are described in details. An X-Ray of the RF stack is also shown which further explores the design of the array.
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