LabVIEW Curve Tracer Procedure

Jacob Goldstein
Mike Peifer
Taif Choudhury
And
Dr. Gerber
1
What is a Curve Tracer
A Curve Tracer provides a visual picture, a graph of the electrical characteristics of
an electrical device, ie., I vs V. For example the graph of the electrical
characteristics of a resistor would be a straight line, through the origin in the first and
third quadrants, whose slope would be the conductance, , of the resistor. For a
diode, it would displa! a nonlinear graph through the origin, with exponential growth
in the first, and near "ero current in the third quadrant. #n both cases the Curve
Tracer program provides the voltages to the circuit, measures the voltage across the
terminals of the device, Vd, as well as the resulting current, #d. These data are then
plotted on an I vs. V displa!. This is referred to as the characteristic curve of the
device.
For transistors, the displa! is much more complicated because there are three, not
two, electrical quantities must be obtained and graphed. The graph is still two$
dimensional but three electrical quantities are graphed. The output current of the
transistor is alwa!s plotted against the output voltage while one of the two input
values is held constant. #n the case of the %&T, the input is the current, Ib, that is
maintained constant. 'owever, for the F(Ts, it is the input voltage that is held
constant. These choices are not arbitrar!, the %&Ts are in fact input current controlled
devices and for the F(Ts the! are input voltage controlled.
#n the case of bipolar transistors, the output characteristic curves can be used to
solve for the )C operating point of the circuit, which depends on Vcc and *c. The so
called +load line, is plotted on the transistor-s characteristic curve and determined b!
Vcc and *c. The )C operating point is determined graphicall! at the intersection of
the load line and the operating base current valve, Ib, in the circuit. The results are
the )C operating values of Ic, Vce, and Ib. 'owever, this is not done b! the Curve
Tracer program.
Initial Setup
First open the /C to the +0ab *esources, folder, then + 0abV#(1 V#-s,, and then
select the +CurveTracer.exe, program. The next step in running the CurveTracer.exe
application is to turn on the laborator! instruments that will be used b! this
application. The! are listed in the chart below and must be connected to the
computer via the /#% cables 2this is alread! done3.
Hardware with GPIB Address
HP !"##B $eries %scillosco&e ' (
HP )!!*+A $eries Multi,eter ' --
HP "###A $eries Power $u&&ly ' -
.%T/0 This is now done auto,atically1
4
After these instruments have been powered, the CurveTracer.exe file should be
executed. 1hen the program starts, the following window should appear5
2i3ure +0 Main Cur4e Tracer 5indow
I 6 Diode Characteristics
At this point, the device t!pe to be tested should be selected from the )evice drop
down menu. 6elect +)iode, in the )evice drop down box. Then, the 78/(9- button
should be clic:ed. The (C( 0abV#(1 program is capable of graphing the #$V
characteristics of an! diode. The '/ )C /ower 6uppl!;output <= is used to appl! a
)C voltage to the circuit as shown in Figure 4. The diode should be connected at the
)#8)( terminals, / side up for forward biased measurements.
2i3ure -. Diode Circuit Dia3ra,
The voltmeter in the )>> 2)igital >ultimeter, '/ =??@1A3 is used to measure the
diode voltage, Vd and the ammeter 2also in the )>>3 is used to measure the diode
current. +A>A, on the test board should be connected to the red$colored +#, terminal
on the )>>. 0i:ewise, +A>$+;+V>$+ should be connected to the blac:$colored +08,.
And +V>A, should be connected to the red$colored +'#, as shown in Figure =.
=
2i3ure ). Connections for Diode Test Board
A series resistor *s is used to limit the current in the diode. For example, for a
forward biased silicon /9 Bunction Vo C @.D volts. 1ith EV applied 2Vps3 and a 1@@F
series resistor the diode current is limited to ?=mA from the equation below. Gou can
select a different resistor to obtain different current limits.
Id C 2E H @.D3;1@@ C ?.=;1@@ C ?= mA.
For a Iener diode the diode should be reverse biased, Bust flip it over. %ut the Vps
max must be set about 4 volts above the V" value in order to see the Iener
brea:down.
! 6 $a4in37Printin3 The Gra&h0
8nce the Curvetracer program is finished running, it will as: !ou if !ou want to save
the data. Gou 9(() to select +G(6, if !ou wish to obtain a printout of the graph. After
selecting +G(6,, a dialog box comes up prompting for the location and the name. The
default location is the +)es:top,, but !ou ma! choose a different location. Gou also
need to enter a name where it sa!s +File 9ame, and then clic: the +6ave, button. #f
?
!ou navigate over to the location that was selected, !ou should see two different files
with the name that was specified. 8ne of the files is an (xcel spreadsheet 2.xls file3
containing the Curvetracer data and the other is an image file 2.bmp file3 with the
graph.
9avigate to the location where the file was saved. )ouble$clic: on the image file
2.bmp file3 with the name that was specified. The graph should open in 1indows
/hoto Viewer. /ress and hold the JCtrlJ and J/J button together until the J/rint
/icturesJ dialog box comes up.
>a:e sure that the following options are set 2see the below35
J/rinterJ is J(C($6tudentJ
J/aper si"eJ is J0etterJ
JKualit!J is JAutomaticall! 6electJ
+/aper t!pe, is +Automaticall! 6elect,
JFull page photoJ is selected. #t is the first option on the right$hand side.
JFit picture to frameJ is L9C'(CM()
2i3ure ". Print %&tions 5indow
8nce the settings have been confirmed, clic: on the J/rintJ button located near the
bottom right hand corner. A new window should come up showing the status of the
print Bob. 1ait for it to be completed and the window to close. 8nce this is done, !ou
ma! go to room 41N and pic: up the printout. %e sure to fill$in parameters on the
graph that were left blan:.
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