Cost of Test for Non-Linear Materials Joe T. Evans, Jr. Radiant Technologies, Inc. November 1, 2017

Graduate students can graduate on time! Cost of Test The primary cost of a test system is not its acquisition cost but its Cost of Test. Cost of Test: What does a single simple measurement cost the user? What is the value of a complex test? COT is reduced by Rate of Test COT is reduced by Complexity of Test COT should incorporate time cost of labor and facilities . Radiant’s Non-linear Materials Testers running under the Vision Materials RDP Operating System reduces COT by a factor greater than 10 over any other ferroelectric tester. Graduate students can graduate on time!

Complexity of Test The non-linear properties of ferroelectric and piezoelectric materials greatly complicate the test environment in both research and in production. Non-linear materials have memory so they remember everything that is done to them over their lifetime. Each one responds to each subsequent test according to its history. Every device experiences a different history in use over time so every device yields a different response from all other devices and even from itself on every test. To be effective, the tester must track every test of every sample and must be able to reproduce each sample’s future history. Radiant’s testers with Vision do this!

Vision Radiant’s roots extend back to the fabrication of the first functional FRAM in the 1980s in Albuquerque, New Mexico. FRAM reliability verification is complex. The foundation for present-day reliability tests for FRAM production was established in the 1990s. Radiant’s concepts are cited in Ramtron’s fundamental patent disclosing test of FRAM integrated circuits for failure in time. From this experience Radiant created the Vision Materials RDP Operating System in 1998 for researchers and test engineers to test, analyze, and report complex measurements of non-linear materials.

How Vision Works Vision has four interconnected units: A Library of 155 measurement, analysis, plotting, program control, and documentation tasks. An Editor to arrange multiple tasks together from the Library into a Test Definition. An Execution Engine to read and execute the Test Definition An amorphous database engine to Archive everything that happens in each and every Test Definition. Measurement tasks pass data to the plotting and analysis tasks in the Test Definition during execution. Program control tasks manage external instruments, control the order of task execution, and adjust test parameters during execution of a Test Definition.

What Vision Does Automates data acquisition, plotting, and archiving. Increases the rate at which data can be acquired by students, researchers, and engineers. Shortens the time required to execute and plot simple but repetitive test definitions. Dramatically reduces the occurrence of human error in repetitive test definitions. Enables the execution of complex test procedures that are not possible with a manually operated system. In summary, Vision reduces the Cost of Test by more than an order of magnitude.

Rate of Test Radiant defines the “Reference Test” as Running a single hysteresis loop, Export of the measured data to a plotting and analysis program, and Plotting of the hysteresis loop, manually executed in sequential order by the operator. Evaluation at Radiant has shown that a single “Reference Test” requires a minimum of 3 minutes for completion. Vision can collect, store, and plot loops in these specified times: 3 minutes - 11 loops 5 minutes - 18 loops 60 minutes - 168 loops 4 minutes - 14 loops 10 minutes - 37 loops Compared to a single “Reference Test”, Radiant testers are a 11 times more productive than manual testers.

Complexity of Test The following plot was executed as one Test Definition: Hysteresis measurement Remanent polarization measurement (Black) Small signal capacitance versus voltage measurement (Blue) Leakage current vs voltage measurement (Red) The IV and CV tests show their results with remanent polarization pointing DOWN (solid) and pointing UP (dashed) during the test. Only a Radiant tester operating under Vision can execute this test unattended with no change in connections.

Definition of Complexity Radiant breaks test execution into levels of complexity. The financial impact of the lower levels of complexity can be calculated. The financial impact of the upper levels of complexity, the ability to execute tests with Vision that cannot be executed manually, cannot be calculated.

Conclusion Electrical and reliability evaluation of non-linear materials for research or production requires complex test definitions. Radiant designed its Precision testers and its Vision RDP Operating System as a single integrated test environment. Together with Vision, Radiant testers are 10 times cheaper to operate for simple measurements than are testers operated manually or with scripts. Vision executes tests of incredible complexity that cannot be reproduced manually.