iMesure

Project Title: iMesure
CEA Collaborators: NIMBE LICSEN
External Collaborators: DesignSpot
Funding: IDEX Paris-Saclay, PocInLab
Start Date: 2017
Project Status: Functional prototype
Keywords: measurement, source, electronics, electrochemistry, design

The measurement of a physical property, whether in physics or chemistry, is almost exclusively based on the electrical measurement of a current or a voltage. This requires precise instruments for both voltage and current, with wide source and measurement dynamic ranges, such as a sourcemeter. The iMesure project aims to develop a multifunction measurement device capable of performing electrical characterizations (voltage/current) in liquid media for the characterization of chemical solutions, and in solid media for the characterization of electronic components.

iMesure is composed of several modules: a two-channel sourcemeter module for solid-state characterization; a potentiostat with three electrodes (RE, CE, WE) for liquid-phase characterization; a temperature measurement module based on a thermocouple; 2 × 8 digital input/output channels with two input/output triggers; and finally a power-supply module and a control module based on a PIC32MZ microcontroller. The system can be remotely controlled via the USB bus using a Python library.

The sourcemeter module makes it possible to generate and measure electrical current and voltage. The current/voltage sources provide a maximum power of 20 W. The voltage source covers a dynamic range of ±20 V with a resolution of 5.95 µV. The current source offers three ranges, ±1 µA, ±1 mA, and ±1 A, with resolutions of 2.38 pA, 2.38 nA, and 2.38 µA, respectively. Voltage and current measurements are divided into three ranges: ±1 mV, ±1 V, and ±20 V, with resolutions of ±0.15 nV, ±0.15 µV, and ±3.16 µV, respectively, for voltage measurement; and ±1 µA, ±1 mA, and ±1 A, with resolutions of ±0.15 pA, ±0.15 nA, and ±0.15 µA, respectively, for current measurement.

Performances and accuracy of the iMesure system.

Some measurement results in liquid and solid media are shown. Measurement (A) corresponds to the characterization of a diode using the sourcemeter module. Measurement (B) is the result of the characterization of a chemical solution (H3CCN + TBAhexFB) using the potentiostat module. The measurements were performed repeatedly to verify the system’s repeatability.

As part of the PocInLab funding, we were supported by the DesignSpot of Université Paris-Saclay, which proposed an ergonomic product design.