Agilent B1500A
Semiconductor Device
Analyzer
Programming Guide
Agilent Technologies
Notices
© Agilent Technologies 2005, 2006, 2007
No part of this manual may be reproduced in
any form or by any means (including electronic storage and retrieval or translation
into a foreign language) without prior agreement and written consent from Agilent
Technologies, Inc. as governed by United
States and international copyright laws.
Manual Part Number
B1500-90012
Edition
Edition 1, August 2005
Edition 2, April 2006
Edition 3, June 2007
Agilent Technologies, Inc.
5301 Stevens Creek Blvd
Santa Clara, CA 95051 USA
Warranty
The material contained in this document is provided “as is,” and is subject to being changed, without notice,
in future editions. Further, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable
law, Agilent disclaims all warranties,
either express or implied, with regard
to this manual and any information
contained herein, including but not
limited to the implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Agilent shall not be
liable for errors or for incidental or
consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, use, or performance of this document or of any
information contained herein. Should
Agilent and the user have a separate
written agreement with warranty
terms covering the material in this
document that conflict with these
terms, the warranty terms in the separate agreement shall control.
Tec hn ol og y L i c e ns es
The hardware and/or software described in
this document are furnished under a license
and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license.
defined in FAR 52.227-19(c)(1-2) (June
1987). U.S. Government users will receive
no greater than Limited Rights as defined in
FAR 52.227-14 (June 1987) or DFAR
252.227-7015 (b)(2) (November 1995), as
applicable in any technical data.
Restricted Rights Legend
If software is for use in the performance of a
U.S. Government prime contract or subcontract, Software is delivered and licensed as
“Commercial computer software” as
defined in DFAR 252.227-7014 (June 1995),
or as a “commercial item” as defined in FAR
2.101(a) or as “Restricted computer software” as defined in FAR 52.227-19 (June
1987) or any equivalent agency regulation or
contract clause. Use, duplication or disclosure of Software is subject to Agilent Technologies’ standard commercial license
terms, and non-DOD Departments and
Agencies of the U.S. Government will
receive no greater than Restricted Rights as
In This Manual
This manual provides the information to control the Agilent B1500 via GPIB
interface using an external computer, and consists of the following chapters:
•“Programming Basics”
This chapter provides basic information to control the Agilent B1500.
• “Remote Mode Functions”
This chapter explains the functions of the Agilent B1500 in the remote mode.
• “Programming Examples”
This chapter lists the GPIB commands and explains the programming examples
for each measurement mode or function. The examples have been written in the
Microsoft Visual Basic .NET or the HP BASIC language.
• “Command Reference”
This chapter provides the complete reference of the GPIB commands of the
Agilent B1500.
• “Error Messages”
This chapter lists the error codes, and explains them.
Microsoft, Windows, and Visual Basic are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners.
Contents
1. Programming Basics
Before Starting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
About Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
To Reset the Agilent B1500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
To Read Query Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
To Perform Self-Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
To Perform Self-Calibration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
To Perform Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
To Enable Source/Measurement Channels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
To Select the Measurement Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
To Force Voltage/Current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
To Set the SMU Integration Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
To Set the Measurement Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
To Pause Command Execution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13
To Start Measurement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13
To Force 0 V. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13
To Disable Source/Measurement Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14
To Control ASU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14
To Control SCUU. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-15
To Read Error Code/Message. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-16
To Read Spot Measurement Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-16
To Read Sweep Measurement Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-17
To Read Time Stamp Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-18
To Perform High Speed Spot Measurement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-19
Command Input Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-20
Header. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-20
Numeric Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-21
Terminator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-22
Special Terminator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-22
Agilent B1500 Programming Guide, Edition 3
Contents
Separator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-22
Data Output Format. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-23
Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-23
ASCII Data Output Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-24
Binary Data Output Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-34
GPIB Interface Capability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1- 52
Status Byte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-53
Programming Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-55
To Confirm the Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-56
To Confirm the Command Completion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-56
To Disable the Auto Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-56
To Optimize the Measurement Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-57
To Optimize the Integration Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-57
To Disable the ADC Zero Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-57
To Optimize the Source/Measurement Wait Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-58
To Use the Internal Program Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-59
To Get Time Data with the Best Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-59
To Use Sweep Source as a Constant Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-59
To Start Measurements Simultaneously. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-59
To Perform Quasi-Sampling Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-60
To Interrupt Command Execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-60
To Use Programs for Agilent 4142B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-61
To Use Programs for Agilent 4155/4156. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-62
To Use Programs for Agilent E5260/E5270 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-64
2. Remote Mode Functions
Measurement Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Spot Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Pulsed Spot Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Staircase Sweep Measurements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
Agilent B1500 Programming Guide, Edition 3
Contents
Multi Channel Sweep Measurements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Pulsed Sweep Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10
Staircase Sweep with Pulsed Bias Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12
Quasi-Pulsed Spot Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15
Binary Search Measurements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17
Linear Search Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-19
Sampling Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-21
Quasi-static CV Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-23
Spot C Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-26
Pulsed Spot C Measurement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-27
CV (DC bias) Sweep Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-29
Pulsed Sweep CV Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-31
C-f Sweep Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-33
CV (AC level) Sweep Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-35
C-t Sampling Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-37
Synchronous Output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-39
Automatic Abort Function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-41
Parallel Measurement Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-43
To Set Measurement Channels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-43
To Enable Parallel Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-43
Program Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-44
Using Program Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-44
Digital I/O Port. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-47
Accessories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-48
Digital I/O Internal Circuit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-49
Trigger Function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-50
Trigger Input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-51
Trigger Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-53
Using Trigger Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-55
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Contents
Trig In/Out Internal Circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-61
Initial Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-62
3. Programming Examples
Programming Basics for Visual Basic .NET Users. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
To Create Your Project Template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
To Create Measurement Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
High-Speed Spot Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
Spot Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12
Pulsed Spot Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-15
Staircase Sweep Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-18
Pulsed Sweep Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-28
Staircase Sweep with Pulsed Bias Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-32
Quasi Pulsed Spot Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-36
Linear Search Measurements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-39
Binary Search Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-42
Multi Channel Sweep Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-45
Sampling Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-49
Quasi-static CV Measurements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-54
High-Speed Spot C Measurement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-59
Spot C Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-65
CV (DC Bias) Sweep Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-69
Pulsed Spot C Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-74
Pulsed Sweep CV Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-78
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Contents
CV (AC Level) Sweep Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-83
C-f Sweep Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-88
C-t Sampling Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-93
Using Program Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-98
Tips to use program memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-99
Using Trigger Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-104
Reading Time Stamp Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-116
Reading Binary Output Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-117
Using Programs for 4142B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-120
Using Programs for 4155B/4156B/4155C/4156C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-122
4. Command Reference
Command Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Command Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-11
Command Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-22
AAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-23
AB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-24
ACH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-26
ACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-27
ACV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-28
ADJ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-28
ADJ?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-29
AIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-30
AV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-32
AZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-34
BC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-34
BDM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-35
BDT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-35
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Contents
BDV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-36
BGI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-37
BGV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-39
BSI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-41
BSM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-42
BSSI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-45
BSSV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-46
BST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-47
BSV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-48
BSVM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-49
CA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-50
*CAL? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-51
CL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-52
CLCORR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-53
CM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-53
CMM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-54
CN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-55
CORR?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-57
CORRDT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-58
CORRDT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-59
CORRL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-60
CORRL?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-60
CORRST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-61
CORRST? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-61
DCORR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-62
DCORR? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-63
DCV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-64
DI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-65
DIAG? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-66
DO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-67
DV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-68
DZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-69
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EMG? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-70
END . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-70
ERC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-71
ERM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-72
ERR? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-73
ERS?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-74
FC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-75
FL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-75
FMT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-76
*IDN? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-78
IMP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-79
IN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-80
LGI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-81
LGV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-82
LMN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-83
LOP? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-84
*LRN? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-85
LSI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-91
LSM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-92
LSSI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-93
LSSV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-94
LST? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-95
LSTM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-97
LSV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-98
LSVM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-99
MCC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-99
MDCV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-100
MI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-101
ML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-102
MM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-103
MSC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-105
MT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-106
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MTDCV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-108
MV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-109
NUB? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-110
*OPC? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-110
OS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-111
OSX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-111
PA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-112
PAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-113
PAX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-114
PDCV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-115
PI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-116
PT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-117
PTDCV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-118
PV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-119
PWDCV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-120
PWI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-121
PWV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-122
QSC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-123
QSL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-123
QSM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-124
QSO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-125
QSR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-126
QST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-127
QSV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-129
QSZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-131
RC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-132
RCV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-133
RI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-134
RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-135
*RST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-136
RU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-136
RV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-137
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RZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-138
SAL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-138
SAP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-139
SAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-140
SCR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-140
*SRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-141
*SRE? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-142
SSL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-143
SSP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-144
SSR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-146
ST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-147
*STB? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-148
TACV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-149
TC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-150
TDCV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-151
TDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-152
TDV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-153
TGMO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-154
TGP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-155
TGPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-157
TGSI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-158
TGSO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-159
TGXO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-159
TI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-160
TM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-161
TMACV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-162
TMDCV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-163
TSC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-164
TSQ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-165
TSR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-165
*TST? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-166
TTC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-168
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TTI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-169
TTV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-171
TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-172
UNT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-172
VAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-173
VAR? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-173
WACV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-174
WAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-175
WDCV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-177
WFC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-178
WI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-179
WM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-181
WMACV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-182
WMDCV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-183
WMFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-184
WNU? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-185
WNX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-186
WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-189
WSI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-190
WSV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-192
WSX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-194
WT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-195
WTACV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-197
WTDCV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-198
WTFC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-199
WV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-200
WZ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-202
XE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-203
5. Error Messages
Error Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
Agilent B1500 Programming Guide, Edition 3
Contents
Operation Error. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
Self-test/Calibration Error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
Agilent B1500 Programming Guide, Edition 3
Contents
Agilent B1500 Programming Guide, Edition 3
1 Programming Basics
Programming Basics
This chapter describes basic information to control the Agilent B1500, and contains
the following sections:
• “Before Starting”
• “Getting Started”
• “Command Input Format”
• “Data Output Format”
• “GPIB Interface Capability”
•“Status Byte”
• “Programming Tips”
1-2 Agilent B1500 Programming Guide, Edition 3
Programming Basics
Before Starting
Before Starting
Before sta rting the pr ogramming using the Agilent FLEX command , perform
following.
1. If the EasyEXPERT software is running, terminate it as shown b elow:
a. Select the menu function File > Exit on the EasyEXPERT main window.
b. Click [x] at the upper right corner of the Start EasyEXPERT button.
2. Select All Programs > Agilent IO Libraries Suite > Agilent Connection Expert
from the Start menu. The Agilent Connection Expert window appears.
3. At the Instrument I/O on this PC area, highlight GPIB0, and click the Change
Properties... button. The Agilent 82350 PCI GPIB Interface - GPIB0 window
appears.
4. Set the GPIB Address value to the number (ex: 17) as you want.
5. Remove the check from the System Controller box.
6. Remove the check from the Auto-discover instruments connected to this
interface box.
7. Click the OK button on the Agilent 82350 PCI GPIB Interf ace - GPIB0 windo w.
8. On the Reboot Required dialog box, click the Reboot Now button, and reboot
the B1500A.
NOTE Start EasyEXPERT Button
Leave the Start EasyEXPERT button on the B1500A screen. The button must be
displayed on the screen or minimized to the Windows task bar. The Start
EasyEXPERT service must be run to control the Agilent B1500A from an external
computer.
Agilent B1500 Programming Guide, Edition 3 1-3
Programming Basics
Before Starting
About Examples
In this section, command execution examples are written in HP BASIC. See the
following instructions for your guidance.
1. Use the ASSIGN statement to assign the I/O path for controlling instruments.
In the next example, the select code of the external computer is 7 and the GPIB
address of the B1500 is 17.
10 ASSIGN @B1500 TO 717
2. Use the OUTPUT statement to send commands to instruments, as shown below.
OUTPUT @B1500;"*RST"
It is available to send multiple commands as shown below.
OUTPUT @B1500;"*CN;MM2,1"
3. Use the ENTER statement to get a query response or data from instruments.
1-4 Agilent B1500 Programming Guide, Edition 3
Programming Basics
Getting Started
Getting Started
This section explains the following basic operations. In this section, th e HP BASIC
language is used for the examples.
• “To Reset the Ag ilent B1500”
• “To Read Query Response”
• “To Perform Self-Test”
• “To Perform Self-Calibration”
• “To Perform Diagnostics”
• “To Enable Source/Measurement Channels”
• “To Select the Measurement Mode”
• “To Force Voltage/Current”
• “To Set the SMU Integration Time”
• “To Set the Measurement Range”
• “To Pause Command Execution”
• “To Start Measurement”
• “To Force 0 V”
• “To Disable Source/Measurement Channels”
• “To Control ASU”
• “To Control SCUU”
• “To Read Error Code/Message”
• “To Read Spot Measurement Data”
• “To Read Sweep Measurement Data”
• “To Read Time Stamp Data”
• “To Perform High Speed Spot Measurement”
Agilent B1500 Programming Guide, Edition 3 1-5
Programming Basics
Getting Started
To Reset the Agilent B1500
The B1500 returns to the initial settings by the *RST command.
Example OUTPUT @B1500;"*RST"
For the initial settings, see “Initial Settings” on page 2-62.
To Read Query Response
If you enter a query command such as the *TST?, ERR? and so on, the B1500 puts
an ASCII format response to the query buf fer that can stor e only o ne respon se. Read
the response as soon as possible after entering a query command.
Example OUTPUT @B1500;"NUB?"
ENTER @B1500;A
This example returns the number of data stored in the data output buffer.
To Perform Self-Test
The B1500 starts the self-test by the *TST? command. The *TST? command also
returns the test result.
Example OUTPUT @B1500;"*TST?"
ENTER @B1500;Code
IF Code<>0 THEN DISP "FAIL: SELF-TEST"
This example starts the self-test, and reads the test result code. For the test result
code, see “*TST?” on page 4-166.
To Perform Self-Calibration
The B1500 starts the self-calibration by the *CAL? command.
Example OUTPUT @B1500;"*CAL?"
ENTER @B1500;Result
IF Result<>0 THEN DISP "FAIL: CALIBRATION"
This example starts the self-calibration, and reads the result, pass or fail. For details,
see “*CAL?” on page 4-51.
1-6 Agilent B1500 Programming Guide, Edition 3
Programming Basics
Getting Started
To Perform Diagnostics
The B1500 starts the diagnostics by the DIAG? command, and returns the result.
You must specify the diagnostics item by the command parameter. Available
parameter values are:
1: Trigger In/Out diagnostics
3: High volt age LED diagnostics
4: Digital I/O diagnostics
To perform diagnostics 1, connect a BNC cable between the Ext Trig In terminal
and the Ext Trig Out terminal before starting the diagnostics.
To perform diagnostics 4, disconnect any cable from the digital I/O port.
Example OUTPUT @B1500;"DIAG? 1"
ENTER @B1500;Result
IF Result<>0 THEN DISP "FAIL: DIAGNOSTICS"
This example starts the Trigger In/Out diagnostics, and reads the result, pass or fail.
For details, see “DIAG?” on page 4-66.
To Enable Source/Measurement Channels
The measurement channels or source channels can be enabled by closing the output
switch. To close the switch, send the CN command. The B1500 closes the output
switch of the specified channels.
Example OUTPUT @B1500;"CN 1"
This example enables channel 1 (the module i nstalled in slot 1 of the B150 0). If you
do not specify the channel, the CN command enables all channels.
To Select the Measurement Mode
The B1500 provides the measurement modes listed in Table 1-1. To select the
measurement mode, send the MM command. In the table, the Mode No. means a
command parameter of the MM command.
Syntax MM Mode#[,Ch#[,Ch#] ... ]
where, Mode# specifies the Mode No., and Ch# specifies the measurement channel.
The available number of measuremen t channels depend s on the meas urement m ode.
For details, see “MM” on page 4-103.
Agilent B1500 Programming Guide, Edition 3 1-7
Programming Basics
Getting Started
Example OUTPUT @B1500;"MM 2,1"
This example sets the staircase sweep measurement, and assigns channel 1 (the
module installed in slot 1 of the B1500) as the measurement channel.
NOTE The Mode No. is not assigned for the high speed spot measurement. See “To
Perform High Speed Spot Measurement” on page 1-19. The high speed spot
measurement does not need the MM command.
For the source output commands available for each measurement mode, see Table
1-3 on page 1-10.
Table 1-1 Measurement Mode
Measurement Mode (measurement parameter) Mode No.
Spot Measurement (current or voltage) 1
Staircase Sweep Measurement (current or voltage) 2
Pulsed Spot Measurement (current or voltage) 3
Pulsed Sweep Measurement (current or voltage) 4
Staircase Sweep with Pulsed Bias Measurement (current or voltage) 5
Quasi-Pulsed Spot Measurement (current or voltage) 9
Sampling Measurement (current or voltage) 10
Quasi-static CV Measurement (capacitance) 13
Linear Search Measurement (current or voltage) 14
Binary Search Measurement (current or voltage) 15
Multi Channel Sweep Measurement (current or voltage) 16
Spot C Measurement (impedance) 17
CV (DC bias) Sweep Measurement (impedance-DC voltage) 18
Pulsed Spot C Measurement (impedance) 19
Pulsed Sweep CV Measurement (impedance-voltage) 20
Frequency Sweep Measurement (impedance-frequency) 22
CV (AC level) Sweep Measurement (impedance-AC voltage) 23
C-t Sampling Measurement (impedance) 26
High Speed Spot Measurement (current, voltage, or impedance) NA
1-8 Agilent B1500 Programming Guide, Edition 3
To Force Voltage/Current
The commands listed in Table 1-2 is used to force voltage or current. These
commands start to force the voltage or current immediately when the command is
executed. They can be used regardless of the measurement mode.
See Table 1-3 for the commands available for each measurement mode. The
commands just set the source channel condition, and the source channel starts the
output by the start trigger, such as the XE command. For more details of the
commands, see Chapter 4, “Command Reference.”
Table 1-2 Voltag e /Current Output Commands
Command Description
DV Applies DC voltage from SMU immediately.
DI Applies DC current from SMU immediately.
FC/ACV Applies AC voltage from MFCMU immediately.
DCV Applies DC bias from MFCMU immediately.
Programming Basics
Getting Started
TDV Applies DC voltage from SMU, and returns the time data.
TDI Applies DC current from SMU, and returns the time data.
FC/TACV Applies AC voltage from MFCMU, and returns the time data.
TDCV Applies DC bias from MFCMU, and returns the time data.
Example OUTPUT @B1500;"DV 1,0,5"
This example just forces 5 V using channel 1 (the module installed in slot 1 of the
B1500) with auto ranging.
Agilent B1500 Programming Guide, Edition 3 1-9
Programming Basics
Getting Started
Table 1-3 Measurement Mode and Available Source Output Commands
Measurement Mode Command
Staircase Sweep Measurement WV(/WSV) or WI(/WSI)
Pulsed Spot Measurement PV/PT or PI/PT
Pulsed Sweep Measurement PWV/PT(/WSV) or PWI/PT(/WSI)
Staircase Sweep with Pulsed Bias
Measurement
Quasi-Pulsed Spot Measurement BDV
Sampling Measurement MV, MI
Quasi-static CV Measurement QSV
Linear Search Measurement LSV(/LSSV) or LSI(/LSSI)
Binary Search Measurement BSV(/BSSV) or BSI(/BSSI)
Multi Channel Sweep Measurement WNX, and WV or WI
CV (DC bias) Sweep Measurement WDCV
Pulsed Spot C Measurement PDCV/PTDCV
Pulsed Sweep CV Measurement PWDCV/PTDCV
Frequency Sweep Measurement WFC
CV (AC level) Sweep Measurement WACV
C-t Sampling Measurement MDCV
WV(/WSV) or WI(/WSI), and PV/PT or
PI/PT
1-10 Agilent B1500 Programming Guide, Edition 3
Programming Basics
Getting Started
To Set the SMU Integration Time
To adjust the balance of the SMU’s measurement accuracy and speed, change the
integration time or the number of averaging samples of the A/D converter (ADC) by
using the AV command. The AV command is compatible with the AV command of
the Agilent 4142B.
For accurate and reliable measurement, set the integration time longer or set the
number of samples larger. For details about the integration ti me settings, see
Chapter 4, “Command Reference.”
The Agilent B1500 has the following two typ es of the A/D converter. Use the AAD
command to select the type of ADC, and use the AIT command to set the integration
time or the number of samples.
Type of ADC Description
High-speed ADC Effective for the high speed measurement. In the multi
channel sweep measurement mode (MM16), multiple
measurement channels can perform synchronous
measurements.
The number of averaging samples must be set by the
AIT or AV command.
High-resolution ADC Effective for the accurate meas ur ement. Cann ot b e u sed
for the pulsed measurement channel and the
simultaneous measurement channel.
The integration time must be set by the AIT command.
Example The following example sets the number of samples to 10 for the high-speed A/D
converter.
OUTPUT @B1500;"AV 10,1"
The following example sets the power line cycle mode (PLC) for both the
high-speed ADC and the high-resolution ADC. And channel 1 uses the
high-resolution ADC and other channels use the high-speed ADC.
OUTPUT @B1500;"*RST"
OUTPUT @B1500;"AIT 0,2"
OUTPUT @B1500;"AIT 1,2"
OUTPUT @B1500;"AAD 1,1"
Agilent B1500 Programming Guide, Edition 3 1-11
Programming Basics
Getting Started
To Set the Measurement Range
To set the measurement range, send the following command:
Command Description
RI Sets the current measurement range. Available for the
current measurements that use the XE command. Not
available for the high speed spot measurement.
TI, TTI Sets the current measurement channel/range, and performs
the high speed spot measurement.
RV Sets the voltage measurement range. Available for the
voltage measurements that use the XE command. Not
available for the high speed spot measurement.
TV, TTV Sets the voltage measurement channel/range, and performs
the high speed spot measurement.
RC Sets the impedance measurement range. Available for the
CV sweep/spot C measurements.
TC, TTC Sets the impedance measurement channel/range, and
performs the high speed spot measurement.
For the current measurement with the auto ranging mode, you can specify the
coverage of each measurement range. To specify the coverage, send the RM
command.
For details, see Chapter 4, “Command Reference.”
Example This example sets the voltage measurement ranging mode of channel 1 to auto.
OUTPUT @B1500;"RV 1,0"
This example sets the current measurement ranging mode of channel 1 to auto, and
specifies coverage between 9 % and 90 % o f the rang e valu e or between 90 mA and
180 mA for the 200 mA range.
OUTPUT @B1500;"RI 1,0"
OUTPUT @B1500;"RM 1,3,90"
NOTE To use 1 pA ra nge of ASU
Set the 1 pA limited auto ranging mode or t he 1 pA fixed ran ge mode. Or enabl e the
1 pA range for the auto ranging mode by using the SAR command. See “SAR” on
page 4-140.
1-12 Agilent B1500 Programming Guide, Edition 3
To Pause Command Execution
To pause command execution until the specified wait time elapses, send the PA
command.
Example OUTPUT @B1500;"PA 5"
If this command is sent, the B1500 waits 5 seconds before executing the next
command.
To Start Measurement
To start measurement other than the high speed spot measurement, send the XE
command.
Example OUTPUT @B1500;"XE"
This starts the measurement specified by the MM command.
For the high speed spot measurement, see “To Perform High Speed Spot
Measurement” on page 1-19.
Programming Basics
Getting Started
To Force 0 V
To force 0 V immediately, send the DZ command. The B1500 memorizes the
present source output settings of the specified channel, and changes the specified
channel output to 0 V. If you do not specify the channel, the DZ command function
is effective for all channels.
Example OUTPUT @B1500;"DZ 1"
If this command is sent, the B1500 memorizes the current settings of channel 1 (the
module installed in slot 1 of the B1500), and changes channel 1 output to 0 V.
To restore the settings stored by the DZ command, send the RZ command. For
details, see Chapter 4, “Command Reference.”
Agilent B1500 Programming Guide, Edition 3 1-13
Programming Basics
Getting Started
To Disable Source/Measurement Channels
T o dis able the chan nels, s end the C L com mand . Th e B1500 op ens the output switch
of the specified channels. Opening the output switch disables the channel.
Example OUTPUT @B1500;"CL 1"
This example disables channel 1 (the modu le install ed in slot 1 of the B1500) . If you
do not specify the channel, the CL command disables all channels.
To Control ASU
This function is available for the B1500 that is installed with the high resolution
SMU (HRSMU). Atto Sense and Switch Unit (ASU) has two inpu ts, SMU input for
the HRSMU and AUX input for the other instrument. And the ASU input to output
connection can be controlled by the following commands. When the B1500 is
turned on, the SMU input will be connected to the ASU output. However, the SMU
output switch will be off at this time.
Table 1-4 ASU Input Output Connection Control
Previous Connection Command Subsequent Connection
SMU side, Output on/off SAP slot, 1 AUX side
SMU side, Output off CN slot SMU side, Output on
SAP slot, 0
AUX side CN slot
SAP slot, 0
CL [slot] SMU side, Output off
SMU side, Output on CL [slot]
where, slot must be the slot number assigned to the slot that installs the HRSMU
connected to the ASU. See “SAL”, “SAP”, and “SAR” on page 4-140 for the other
function and control commands of the ASU.
When the SMU side is connected to the ASU output, the source output on/off can be
controlled by the CN/CL command. And then the SAP slot, 1 command is used to
change the output connection to the AUX side. When the AUX side is connected,
the output of the instrument connected to the AUX input is appeared to the ASU
output immediately.
1-14 Agilent B1500 Programming Guide, Edition 3
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