Automated Test And Analysis System For UV Photodetector Based On Virtual Instrument Architecture

The measurement of various performance parameters is very important for research and development of ultraviolet photodetector. In the past, this job is usually done by manual instruments operation. The measurement process is quite troublesome and because it needs longer time, the result is vulnerable to various uncertain factors. In order to solve these problems, in this paper, a powerful test and analysis system for UV photodetector is developed using virtual instrument architecture and Labview programming software. The system can be used for the measurement of dark current, photocurrent and absolute spectral response. The measurement software incorporates device control, data collection, data analysis and result presentation. It is friendly interfaced and easy to use. Utilizing the advantage of computer on automated measurement and mathematical calculation, the entire experiment process is intellectualized, including measurement and analysis. The complexity of experiment operation is highly reduced. The efficiency of experiment and the accuracy and reliability of the measurement result is also improved. Now, the system has already been adopted by the Material and Device Laboratory of Physics Department, Xiamen University. It can be referred to by other laboratory for constructing automated measurement system.The content of this paper is divided into four parts.In the first part, the idea of virtual instrument and the advantage of using Labview as development platform will be explained.In the second part, the basic principle of UV photodetector and the requirement of the test system will be explained.In the third part, details about system development will be given from four levels which are front end hardware, communication bus, driver architecture and measurement application.In the forth part, the measurement accuracy of this system will be discussed.