Interfacing labview with keithley source meter

[Dennis_Knutson]

You do a query to the instrument by first doing a VISA Write of the appropriate SCPI command and then doing a VISA Read. You find the appropriate SCPI commands in the instrument manual. If the instrument is compliant, a query is a command that ends in ? Not any different than doing a *IDN? query.

Queries are not typically part of an instrument driver since it is assumed a program is in control of an instrument and would know the settings it sent to it. The only times you need to query is when you allow local control by a user and that can lead to all sorts of other problems.

[Vladiator]

Below is the list of the command supported by the instrument. I do not see any command that retrieves instrument range or channel for instance. Does this mean I am out of luck?

-------------

Common commands supported by the Keithley Instruments Series 2600A System SourceMeter®
instrument are summarized in Table B-1. Although commands are shown in upper-case, common
commands are not case sensitive, and either upper or lower case can be used. Note that although
these commands are essentially the same as those defined by the IEEE-488.2 standard, the
Series 2600A does not strictly adhere to that standard.

Table B-1

Common commands

Mnemonic Name  Description
*CLS Clear status Clears all event registers and Error Queue.
*ESE <mask> Event enable command Program the Standard Event Enable Register.
*ESE? Event enable query Read the Standard Event Enable Register.
*ESR? Event status register query Read/clear the Standard Event Enable Register.
*IDN? Identification query Returns the manufacturer, model number, serial
number, and firmware revision levels of the unit.
*OPC Operation complete command Set the Operation Complete bit in the Standard
Event Register after all pending commands have
completed.
*OPC? Operation complete query Places an ASCII “1” into the Output Queue when all
selected device operations have completed.
*RST Reset command Returns the SourceMeter instrument to default
conditions.
*SRE <mask> Service request enable
command
Programs the Service Request Enable Register.
*SRE? Service request enable query Reads the Service Request Enable Register.
*STB? Status byte query Reads the Status Byte Register.1
*TRG Trigger command Sends a remote trigger to the SourceMeter.
*TST? Self-test query Returns a 0.
*WAI Wait-to-continue command Waits until all

[GerdW]

Hi Vladiator,

thes are just the "common commands" - "common" because nearly every GPIB-connected device supports them.

You should also read the chapters specific to the K2600...

[Showtime_DW]

Can I use RS 232 cable to comunicate with labview? Do I need to install extra driver for that?

[DennisKnutson]

A previous post talks about using serial to talk to the Keithley.

The only driver required for serial is NI-VISA. If you are using a USB-RS232 converter, that would require a separate hardware driver from the vendor.

[Showtime_DW]

Thank you .

[sgayen]

This  programme (Labview 8.5) may be useful. Please find the compact programme attached along with for dc IV measurement using Keithley Sourcemeter 2602A (with option of using Lakeshore 340 for IV at different temperatures). The IV measurement can be performed in voltage bias mode or in current bias mode (both 2-probe & 4-probe options are available). The measurement range, step size (linear or logarithmic), averaging, delay between successive measurement, number of cycles, compliance etc can easily selected from the front panel and can be changed/updated during the run. The data file will be stored at the file destination provided by the user with the option of replacing/appending data to an exsisting file or creating a new file. For temperature dependent IV measurement, the data file will be automatically be created with a name of 'IV_(set temp) K_(time stamp)'.txt/dat in the selected folder. An additional option of capturing the sreen may be useful to revisit the parametrs used in a particular measurement. The user first need to select measurement mode: I-bias or V-bias & the channel A or B (dual mode is yet to include) at the top of the panel before setting all the parameters.