How to Make Resistance Measurements

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Precision Source / Measure Unit
+ Precision Source / Measure Unit
Precision Source / Measure Unit
+ Precision Source / Measure Unit

Eliminating Error-Inducing Elements During Resistance Measurements

Characterizing a resistor or other similar components requires a thorough focus on several elements, including residual test lead resistance, thermal electromotive force, and leakage currents in the measurement path. Test engineers must implement various measurement mitigations, such as using a 4-wire connection, offset compensation, and a guarding option to obtain accurate results. Engineers should implement a basic 2-wire connection using the same pair of test leads to force current and measure voltage only if the residual lead resistance is negligible compared to the resistance of the device under test (DUT).

Extremely low resistance measurements, where the residual lead resistance is comparable to the DUT resistance, require a 4-wire connection scheme (remote sensing) to eliminate measurement error. Engineers need to employ banana-to-triaxial adaptors and triaxial cables as guard options to eliminate leakage currents in the cables and test fixtures. This is important, especially when measuring significant resistance where the measurement current is less than a nanoamp. Source measure unit (SMU) circuitry typically maintains the guard terminal at the same voltage potential as the high force line, which prevents current from leaking into the cable and the surrounding measurement path.

Resistance Measurement Solution

Measuring the resistance of any components requires an engineer to eliminate multiple error-inducing factors during the measurement process, including residual test lead resistance, thermal electromotive force, and leakage currents in the measurement path. The Keysight resistance measurement solution has a variety of features to address these measurement issues, including a remote sense function (4-wire connection), offset compensation, and a guard function. The solution enables accurate, high-resolution resistance measurements, delivering 6.5-digit sourcing and measurement resolution, along with source and measure resolution down to 10 fA and 100 nV.
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