8114 A Pulse

Pulse generators are electronic test instruments that create controlled electrical pulses for characterization, stimulation, and timing tasks in laboratory and production environments. Pulse generators in test and probe work are used to drive devices or circuits with defined pulse conditions so engineers can observe electrical response under repeatable conditions.

The Agilent 8114A generates pulse waveforms and supports continuous pulses, double pulses, and bursts. The Agilent 8114A can be triggered or gated by an external signal or by the manual trigger key. The Agilent 8114A allows pulse levels to be set in terms of voltage or current. The Agilent 8114A provides load compensation by allowing the expected load impedance at the output to be entered so the instrument adjusts its signal accordingly. The Agilent 8114A provides adjustable voltage, current, and duty cycle limits to protect the device under test. The Agilent 8114A includes an inhibit input that accepts a TTL feedback signal to inhibit the pulse signal under hardware control. The Agilent 8114A is programmable through GPIB with SCPI commands.^[3]

Pulse generators are test instruments rather than wafer-processing tools. Pulse generators fit into electrical characterization, bench evaluation, and automated test flows where a device, subassembly, or circuit needs a controlled pulse stimulus before, during, or after other measurement steps.

In semiconductor and electronics work, pulse generators are commonly used alongside probe and measurement setups after fabrication steps have produced a structure that can be electrically contacted. Pulse generators often sit upstream of data capture and analysis because they provide the excitation signal that other instruments measure.

Pulse generators are used wherever a component or circuit must be exercised with repeatable pulse conditions to evaluate behavior, timing, thresholds, switching response, or protection margins. In probe environments, pulse generators can stimulate pads, interconnects, and packaged or unpackaged devices while other instruments observe the resulting electrical behavior.