Agilent Technologies B1500A Self-Paced Training Manual page 120

To Set Ranging Mode
Measurement Setup
The Range button opens the SMU Range Setup dialog box. The dialog box is used to set the
measurement ranging mode. This button is not available when a pulse source is used.
•Unit: SMU name or number
•Name: Variable name for the measurement data
•Mode: Ranging mode, AUTO, LIMITED, or FIXED
•Range: Range value
•Range Change Rule: BY FULL RANGE, GO UP AHEAD, or UP AND DOWN AHEAD
•Rate: Value used for range changing. See the following formula.
For the AUTO or LIMITED, SMU automatically selects the minimum range that covers the
measurement value, and performs the measurement by using the range. For the limited auto
ranging, the instrument does not use the range lower than the specified range value. For
example, if you select the 100 nA limited auto ranging, the instrument never uses the 10 nA range
and below.
BY FULL RANGE performs normal auto ranging operation.
For the GO UP AHEAD and UP AND DOWN AHEAD rules, specify the Rate value, 11 to 100, which
fixes the boundary of the ranging. The ranging occurs when the measurement data goes across
the boundary values shown below.
go up boundary = present measurement range × Rate / 100
go down boundary = present measurement range × Rate / 1000
The go down boundary is available only for the UP AND DOWN AHEAD rule.
5-13
Not available when
a pulse source is used