The latest release from the Keithley Instruments stable of test and measurement equipment is the half-rack SourceMeter 2450 SMU (Source Measure Unit). This unit is the first new product from the company since their takeover by Tektronix in 2010. The SourceMeter 2450 has a number of features and enhancements compared to the previous offering but the most obvious difference is the 5” color touch screen which is a first for Keithley.

The touch screen dramatically reduces the number of switches on the front panel and is said to make the whole process of testing faster and more intuitive. Extended current and voltage measurement ranges now go down to 10 nA and 20 mV. In addition to the traditional DC current, voltage and resistance testing the unit also functions as a curve tracer and parameter analyzer allowing speedy characterization of electrical components. This new model retains the Test Script Processor, featured in the earlier 2400 instrument allowing the migration of existing test programs and sequences. These complete test programs are stored locally in on-board non volatile RAM which has the effect of reducing problems associated with GPIB traffic and external PC controllers.