Hello, I'm Tomo from Agilent Technologies.
Have you experienced that output current of your power supply is not enough?
Today,
I'd like to demonstrate how to increase output current of a voltage source
by connecting multiple power supplies in parallel.
I'll use these power supplies in this demonstration.
These are Agilent B2960A 6.5 digit low noise power source.
These power supplies have capability to output 3A per unit.
This is Agilent U1253B multimeter.
And I use this 100 milliohm resistor as a DUT.
DUT stands for device under test.
I'll apply 6A to a DUT using these power supplies in parallel,
and confirm the applied voltage and current using this multimeter.
First of all,
let's think about how to increase the output current of a voltage source.
When power supply is set as a voltage source.
It's equivalent circuit is like this.
We can increase the applied current
by connecting a current source in parallel.
There is no ideal source in the real world.
So, you need to pay attention to the voltage limit of the current source
and the current limit of the voltage source.
The voltage limit of the current source must be greater than
the output voltage of the voltage source.
And the current limit of the voltage source must be greater than
the output current of the current source minus the applied current of the DUT.
If the applied current of the voltage source is greater than it's current limit,
the voltage source can not work as an ideal voltage source.
Now you know how to increase output current by connecting multiple power supplies in parallel.
Let's start the experiment.
The upside power supply is already set as a voltage source.
The output voltage is set to 600mV.
The current limit is set to 3.03A.
I'm using the sense terminals to eliminate the voltage drop across the lead resistance.
The remote sensing is effective to apply the precise voltage to the DUT even if its resistance is low.
The downside power supply is set as a current source.
The output current is set to 3A.
The voltage limit is set to 2V.
I'm turning them on.
First, let's measure the applied voltage.
It is 600mV.
These two power supplies are working as one voltage source.
Next, let's measure the applied current.
It's about 6A.
Now, we could confirm the expected voltage and current applied to the DUT.
Agilent B2961A also supports voltage and current measurement functions
This is Quick IV software.
You can easily perform the voltage sweep measurement using this software.
This time, I'll sweep the output voltage from 0V to 600mV with 100mV step.
Let's check the measured currents of both instruments.
These are measured results.
Starting from the left,
the measured voltage of the voltage source,
the measured current of the voltage source,
the measured voltage of the current source
and the measured current of the current source are shown.
When the output voltage of the voltage source is 0V,
all of the output current of the current source is applied to the voltage source.
So the measured current of the voltage source is 3A.
When the output voltage of the voltage source is 300mV,
all of the output current of the current source is applied to the DUT.
The output current of the voltage source is 0A.
When the output voltage of the voltage source is 600mV,
all of the output current of both power supplies is applied to the DUT.
The output current of the voltage source is also 3A.
Then the applied current of the DUT is 6A.
I demonstrated how to increase the output current of a voltage source
by connecting multiple power supplies in parallel.
When your power supply cannot output enough current.
Please try this way.
If you'd like to have more information, you can visit our website.
Thank you.