2606B System SourceMeter® Instrument Reference Manual
Section 2: General operation
2606B-901-01 Rev. B / May 2018
2-35
Basic operation
Hazardous voltages may be present on all output and guard terminals. To prevent electrical
shock that could cause injury or death, never make or break connections to the 2606B while
the instrument is powered on. Turn off the equipment from the front panel or disconnect the
main power cord from the rear of the 2606B before handling cables. Putting the equipment
into standby does not guarantee that the outputs are powered off if a hardware or software
fault occurs.
Before you begin any of the following front panel procedures, make sure that you exit out of the
menu structure. Press the
EXIT (LOCAL)
key as many times as needed to return to the main
display.
Source-measure capabilities
From the virtual front panel, you can configure the instrument to perform the following source-
measure operations:
•
Source voltage:
Measure and display current, voltage, resistance, or power
•
Source current:
Measure and display voltage, current, resistance, or power
•
Measure resistance:
Display resistance calculated from voltage and current components of
measurement (can optionally specify source voltage or source current value)
•
Measure power:
Display power calculated from voltage and current components of
measurement (can optionally specify source voltage or source current value)
•
Measure only (V or I):
Display voltage or current measurement
Limits
When sourcing voltage, the 2606B can be set to limit current or power. Conversely, when sourcing
current, the 2606B can be set to limit voltage or power. In steady-state conditions, the 2606B output
will not exceed the limit. The maximum limit is the same as the maximum values listed in the
specifications.
The limit circuit limits in either polarity regardless of the polarity of the source or limit value. The
accuracy of the limit opposite in polarity from the source is diminished. The maximum limits are based
on the source range. For more information, see
(on page 4-1).
The limit operation of the instrument changes dependent on the source mode (current or voltage),
load, and the configured limits (current, voltage, and power). As the names imply, the current limit
restricts the current for sourced voltage and the voltage limit restricts the voltage for a sourced
current. The power limit, however, restricts power by lowering the present limit in effect (voltage or
current) as needed to restrict the SMU from exceeding the specified power limit. For additional details
on using limits, including load considerations when specifying both a current (or a voltage) limit and a
power limit, see
(on page 4-3).
The following topics describe how to set the limits.