Automated measurement system for diode I–V characterization

This paper presents the development of easy-to-operate automated measurement system capable in obtaining I–V characteristics of diode. Characterization and testing of semiconductor device using data acquisition system can become easier than conventional method as lot of testing during research is needed to examine the performance of diode. Therefore an easy and yet efficient measurement system is needed to accomplish the necessity. The proposed system comprises of Phidget Interface Kit 8/8/8 which is used to acquire voltage and current measures from Phidget voltage sensors and sending it through USB (Universal Serial Bus) to personal computer (PC). LabVIEW used as the PC graphical interface to control data acquisition, display voltage and current value and to analyze the data. Current-voltage (I–V) characteristics of silicon rectifier diode and Schottky diode and the knee voltage for each diode have been determined. The measured knee voltage for silicon diode is 0.6 volts and for Schottky diode is 0.3 volts which are close to the theoretical values. The proposed system also capable in characterizes any two terminals devices such as resistor, transistor and integrated circuits.