Keithley Instruments
28775 Aurora Road
Cleveland, Ohio 44139
1-800-935-5595
tek.com/keithley
SMU Potentiostats and EC-UPGRADE Kit
Quick Start Guide
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Description
The Keithley Instruments SMU (source-measure unit) Potentiostats are designed to make electrochemical
measurements easily and accurately. Included with your Model 2450, 2460, or 2461 Interactive SourceMeterTM
Instrument and other hardware is a USB flash drive containing electrochemistry test scripts or applications.
When running, each application can be user-configured to meet your specific test requirements.
The EC-UPGRADE kit lets you use an existing Keithley Instruments 2450, 2460, or 2461 SourceMeter as a
potentiostat or galvanostat.
The following applications are installed on your instrument or on the supplied USB flash drive.
▪ Cyclic Voltammetry: Potential is swept at a user-programmable scan rate between two to four defined
potential vertices, and the resulting current is measured.
▪ Open Circuit Potential: Measures the cell potential difference between two electrodes with high-input
impedance as a function of time.
▪ Potential Pulse and Square Wave: Sources potential at programmable peak and base levels while
current is recorded at the pulse peak level, and the resulting current is measured.
▪ Current Pulse and Square Wave: Sources current at programmable peak and base levels, and the
potential is recorded at the pulse peak level.
▪ Chronoamperometry: Potential is stepped to a programmed value, and the resulting current is measured
as a function of time.
▪ Chronopotentiometry: Current is stepped to a programmed value, and the resulting potential is
measured as a function of time.
This kit is not intended to be used with a SMU interlock enabled. To prevent electric shock
and possible damage to the test cable assembly or test setup, do not activate the Keithley
Instruments 2450, 2460, or 2461 interlock.
When the interlock is not engaged on the 2450, 2460, or 2461 the nominal output is limited to
±42 V. However, review the Safety Precautions (on page 23) section of this document to
ensure responsible operation.
SMU Potentiostats and EC-UPGRADE Kit Quick Start Guide
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Model number
Quantity
2450, 2460, or 2461
1
01217440x
1
013042100
4
2450-800x
1
What you should have received
Below is a list of what you should have received. If you only ordered the EC-UPGRADE kit, a SMU instrument
is not included.
Description
Keithley Instruments 2450, 2460, or 2461
Interactive SourceMeter SMU Instrument
with power cable
1 m connectorized cable assembly
Insulated miniature alligator clips
Interactive Sourcemeter Electrochemistry
Kit USB Flash Drive and Instructions (not
pictured)
Figure 1: EC-UPGRADE kit shipping contents
SMU Potentiostats and EC-UPGRADE Kit Quick Start Guide
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Getting started
Before you can run an electrochemistry test, you will need to configure the instrument and make basic
connections. The following topics will explain how to set up and configure your instrument.
The 2450-EC or 2460-EC instrument must have firmware version 1.5.0 or later to run the
electrochemistry test applications. The 2461-EC must have firmware version 1.6.0 or later.
Scripts with version numbers lower than 189427 are compatible with firmware versions 1.5.0
(1.6.0 for 2461) to 1.6.7. Scripts with version numbers of 189427 and higher are compatible with
firmware versions 1.5.0 (1.6.0 for 2461) to 1.6.7 and version 1.7.2 and higher. The script version
number is displayed near the top right corner of an application's Home screen.
To view the firmware version, press the MENU key, then select Info/Manage under System.
The firmware version is at the upper-left of your display. The latest firmware is available from the
Keithley Instruments website (tek.com/keithley).
Power the instrument on or off
Follow the steps below to connect the SMU to line power and turn on the instrument. The SMU operates from a
line voltage of 100 V to 240 V at a frequency of 50 Hz or 60 Hz. It automatically senses line voltage and
frequency. Make sure the operating voltage in your area is compatible.
You must turn on the SMU and allow it to warm up for at least one hour to achieve rated accuracies.
Operating the instrument on an incorrect line voltage may cause damage to the instrument,
possibly voiding the warranty.
The power cord supplied with the 2450-EC, 2460-EC, and 2461-EC contains a separate
protective earth (safety ground) wire for use with grounded outlets. When proper connections
are made, the instrument chassis is connected to power-line ground through the ground wire
in the power cord. In addition, a redundant protective earth connection is provided through a
screw on the rear panel. This terminal should be connected to a known protective earth. In
the event of a failure, not using a properly grounded protective earth and grounded outlet
may result in personal injury or death due to electric shock.
Do not replace detachable mains supply cords with inadequately rated cords. Failure to use
properly rated cords may result in personal injury or death due to electric shock.
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To connect the power cord:
1. Make sure that the front-panel POWER switch is in the off (O) position.
2. Connect the female end of the supplied power cord to the AC receptacle on the rear panel.
3. Connect the male end of the power cord to a grounded AC outlet.
To turn the instrument on or off:
1. Before turning the instrument on, disconnect any devices under test (DUTs) from the instrument.
2. To turn your instrument on, press the front-panel POWER switch to place it in the on (|) position. The
instrument displays a status bar as it powers on. The home screen is displayed when power on is
complete.
3. To turn your instrument off, press the front-panel POWER switch to place it in the off (O) position.
On some sensitive or easily damaged devices under test (DUTs), the instrument power-up and
power-down sequence can apply transient signals to the DUT that may affect or damage it. When
testing this type of DUT, do not make final connections to it until the instrument has completed its
power-up sequence and is in a known operating state. When testing this type of DUT, disconnect it
from the instrument before turning the instrument off.
To prevent any human contact with a live conductor, connections to the DUT must be fully insulated and the
final connections to the DUT must only use safety-rated safety jack socket connectors that do not allow bodily
contact.
Select the high-impedance, output-off state
Before making physical connections from the instrument to the test cell, set the output of the instrument to the
high-impedance, output-off state. When the high-impedance output-off state is selected, the output relay opens,
disconnecting the instrument from the load.
To set the output of your SMU to the high-impedance output-off state:
1. Press the MENU key.
2. Under Source, select Settings.
3. Select Output Off.
4. Choose High Z (high impedance).
You may receive a notification about making measurements with the output turned off. Select OK to
clear the message or select Details to see more information.
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Copy a script to the instrument
Your SMU is shipped with all test applications and supporting scripts loaded into memory.
If you accidentally delete a test application or a supporting script (EC_Framework.tsp or
EC_Images.tsp), you can copy the files from the flash drive to your instrument.
If you are upgrading your SMU with the EC-UPGRADE kit, you can run the test applications from the flash drive
or copy the files from the flash drive to the instrument. If you choose to copy the applications, you must also
copy the support files (EC_Framework.tsp and EC_Images.tsp) to your SMU.
To copy a script to the SMU:
1. Insert the USB flash drive into the USB port on the front panel.
2. Press the MENU key.
3. Under Scripts, select Manage. The Manage Scripts menu opens. Your list of Internal Scripts may appear
different than the following figure.
Figure 2: Manage Scripts menu
4. In the USB Scripts list, select the test script you want to copy to the SMU. For this example, you will copy
the cyclic voltammetry test script.
Figure 3: Selecting the test script to be copied
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5. Select <. The test script is transferred to the instrument, and the corresponding filename is displayed in the
Internal Scripts list.
Figure 4: Copying the file to the instrument
Connections and usage
The cable assembly can be used with Keithley SMUs for electrochemistry applications. Each connector of the
assembly is labeled according to its function:
Figure 5: Cable assembly connector labels and definitions
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Make the SMU connections
To connect to the instrument (all tests):
The front panel of your SMU has four banana-style input and output jacks. You use the supplied cable to
connect your electrochemical cell to these jacks.
The SENSE terminals are used to measure voltage at the device under test (DUT). When you use sense leads,
the voltage drop across the force leads is eliminated from a measurement. This produces more accurate
voltage sourcing and measurement at the DUT. Plug the SHI and SLO connectors into the SENSE terminals.
The FORCE terminals are used to source or sink voltage or current to or from a DUT. Plug the HI and LO
connectors into the FORCE terminals.
Plug the four SMU-side cable connectors into the front of your SMU instrument as shown in the below graphic.
Figure 6: Connecting SMU-side cable connectors to the SMU front-panel inputs
Make the device connections
The test cable lets you make connections to test cells with two, three, or four electrodes.
For two-electrode applications, the device-side cable connectors are used in stacked pairs. Connect the WE
and WES pair to the working electrode of your electrochemical cell, and connect the CE and RE pair to the
counter electrode of the cell.
Figure 7: Two-electrode cell testing cable connections
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For three-electrode applications, the WE and WES connectors are stacked and attached to the working
electrode. The CE and RE connectors connect to the counter electrode and reference electrode, respectively.
Figure 8: Three-electrode cell testing cable connections
For four-electrode applications, each device-side cable connector is used separately.
Figure 9: Four-electrode cell testing cable connections
Attach the alligator clips
Four insulated alligator clips are supplied. You can attach these clips to the ends of the device-side connectors,
as shown in the following graphic. The clips provide a safe, secure way to connect to your device.
Figure 10: Alligator clip attached to accessory cable connector
For small cells and electrodes, you can use commercially available banana-to-microclip connectors by plugging
them directly into the cable connectors.
Once the appropriate connectors or clips are attached, you are ready to connect to the test cell.
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