THE IMPORTANCE OF SWEEP RATE IN DC IV MEASUREMENTS.

This article explores the importance of taking due care in setting up DC IV measurement sweep rate for the case of a GaAs MESFET and a silicon MOSFET. A numerical metric, called the normalized difference unit, is shown to be useful in determining appropriate delay factor settings for obtaining robust measurements using a Keithley 4200 DC parameter analyzer. The MESFET device initially exhibited erroneous measurements in the knee region, due to slow trapping effects, while only thermal effects are evident in the MOSFET results.