With the adoption of GaN and SiC technologies and higher power requirements for power modules there is a need for higher levels of pulsed DC current. Teradyne has introduced the HCU2000 instrument as part of the ETS-88TH system to address the requirement for pulsed DC currents up to 4KA.
This presentation will discuss the HCU2000, including using the instrument in native mode and the preferred method of using the Safe Operating Area Manager (SOA Manager) software to optimize test time. The SOA Manager is software that is implemented via various APIs that are part of the programming of the HCU2000. A description of the use of the SOA manager when using multiple pulses in a single test application will be covered, along with a description and examples of the actual use of the APIs. We’ll discuss how to optimize test time by minimizing the movement of the instrument power rail when using multiple pulses of different values in a single test sequence. The SOA Manager allows the user to find the optimal settings that are a compromise between the power rail movement of the capacitor bank and heating of the output structure resulting in greater throughput.