Products > Test Equipment
History of Keithley electrometers
Anders Petersson:
Having just bought a Keithley 6514, I wanted to learn how this line of specialty instruments has evolved over time. Has anyone published a summary?
Here's my stab at piecing together the history. The sources for the release dates are in parentheses; mostly the oldest print history date of the manuals. As none of this is officially confirmed, I've marked all the dates with a question mark:
602 - 1975? https://download.tek.com/manual/29111C(Model602).pdf
610B - 1964? (From the schematics in http://bama.edebris.com/download/keithley/610b/MFG_KEITHLEY_610B_BR.pdf)
614 - 1981? (srb1954 says the earliest dates in the manual is 9-8-81, and SilverSolder confirms manual copyright 1981)
616 - 1975? (https://download.tek.com/manual/28039I(Model616).pdf)
617 - 1984? (https://download.tek.com/manual/617_901_01G.pdf)
619 - 1981? http://bama.edebris.com/manuals/keithley/619/
6512 - 1994? https://doc.xdevs.com/docs/Keithley/6512/, https://doc.xdevs.com/docs/Keithley/6512/photo/
6514 - 1998??
6517 - 1994 https://xdevs.com/doc/Keithley/6517/6517_900_01D.pdf
6517A - 1996 (https://www.aps.anl.gov/files/APS-Uploads/DET/Detector-Pool/Electronics/Meters/6517A_Users_Manual.pdf)
6517B - Some time 1997-2014 (from jjoonathan comment, citing davesherman74)
Picoammeter
6485 / 6487 - 2002? - https://download.tek.com/manual/6487-901-01(B-Mar2011)(Ref).pdf
SMU
6430 Sub-Femtoamp Remote SourceMeter
The dates can be questionable. For example, if judging from the manual print history, 6514 came in 1998 and 6517A came in 1996. I can't believe the superior 6517 was released before 6514 so the manual print history is probably not the way to learn this. Does someone know the facts?
For reference, there's a support forum at https://forum.tek.com/viewforum.php?f=39
It's interesting to see the performance progression, for example the 1-year accuracy of the most sensitive amps range:
617: 1.6% + 66 counts (range 2 pA, resolution 100 aA)
6514: 1% + 30 counts (range 20 pA, resolution 100 aA)
6517B: 1% + 30 counts (range 20 pA, resolution 100 aA)
Others are welcome to correct my mistakes and fill in more details!
EDITS: Updated 3 times with new/corrected information.
KK6IL:
Ive got a Keithley 616. 9th printing of the manual says Copyright 1975.
jjoonathan:
Dave's DMM7510 teardown has a relevant comment:
--- Quote from: davesherman74 ---Nicely done. Former Keithley engineer, 1997-2014, just before the model 7510 was released. I can say that the Actel FPGA at 20:00 is indeed the integrating A/D. I was the lead firmware engineer for the 6517B electrometer and that A/D was developed for both. You are correct, it's a custom design, and it's a variation of a dual-slope A/D converter. I had to chuckle at the "evil Danaher" comment, part of the reason I left. It just wasn't the same company I started with. I was among the last few new hires who got to meet Mr. Joseph F. Keithley, the founder.
--- End quote ---
Anders Petersson:
--- Quote from: KK6IL on January 11, 2021, 07:26:21 am ---Ive got a Keithley 616. 9th printing of the manual says Copyright 1975.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: jjoonathan on January 11, 2021, 05:19:52 pm ---Dave's DMM7510 teardown has a relevant comment:
--- Quote from: davesherman74 ---Nicely done. Former Keithley engineer, 1997-2014, just before the model 7510 was released. [...] I was the lead firmware engineer for the 6517B electrometer [...]
--- End quote ---
--- End quote ---
Thanks to both, added to the initial post.
srb1954:
I've got a 614. Looking at some of the chips used in it it I would think the design would started in the late 1970's.
The earliest date I can see on the drawings in the manual is 9-8-81 so I would guess it was released sometime late in 1981
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