What Industries Utilize Picoammeters and Their Applications?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion focuses on the applications and industries that utilize picoammeters, particularly in the context of measuring very small electrical currents in the picoampere range. Participants explore various fields such as semiconductor technology, nanotechnology, and electrochemistry, as well as specific use cases for picoammeters.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Mike, a math major, seeks to understand what produces picoampere currents and which industries use picoammeters, mentioning semiconductor and nanotech as examples.
  • One participant shares their experience using picoammeters to investigate dendritic growth on a PC board, noting the sensitivity to small changes in resistance.
  • Another participant mentions the use of picoammeters in electrochemistry, specifically in fast voltammetry at microelectrodes, where currents can vary rapidly.
  • A different participant highlights the application of picoammeters in scanning tunneling microscopes for measuring leakage currents between electrodes and samples.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants present various applications and industries for picoammeters, but there is no consensus on a comprehensive list or a definitive ranking of their uses. Multiple perspectives on the applications exist without resolution.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes references to specific applications and experiences but lacks detailed definitions or explanations of the underlying principles of picoammetry and its technical limitations.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in the applications of picoammeters in fields such as semiconductor technology, nanotechnology, and electrochemistry may find this discussion informative.

mbalaban
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Hey,

I'm interning at a lab that's in the midst of developing a picoammeter (a current measurement instrument capable of measure picoamperes). I'm a math major, not a physicist or an electrical engineer, so I don't haven't deeply studied electricity or its applications. I'm trying to gain an understanding of what types of things would produce currents in the picoampere range (I'm compiling a list). Also, what industries and fields of academia use picoammeters (e.g. semiconductor, nanotech)?

Your answers are much appreciated. I want to do some research into these industries and fields, but I'm not quite sure where to look.

Thank you,

Mike
 
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mbalaban said:
Hey,

I'm interning at a lab that's in the midst of developing a picoammeter (a current measurement instrument capable of measure picoamperes). I'm a math major, not a physicist or an electrical engineer, so I don't haven't deeply studied electricity or its applications. I'm trying to gain an understanding of what types of things would produce currents in the picoampere range (I'm compiling a list). Also, what industries and fields of academia use picoammeters (e.g. semiconductor, nanotech)?

Your answers are much appreciated. I want to do some research into these industries and fields, but I'm not quite sure where to look.

Thank you,

Mike

I've only used them for one project, where we were trying to figure out what was causing dendritic growth across the PC board of one of our products many years ago. As the copper dendrites started to form, you could sense very small changes in resistance between the traces that had the bias voltage driving the growth.

info on dendritic growth: http://www.ami.ac.uk/courses/topics/0152_caf/index.html

.
 
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In electrochemistry - voltammetry at microelectrodes. Especially fast voltammetry on microelectrodes with the radius measured in nanometers. Current can be very small and change fast (say from -pA to pA in less than ms). At least these were conditions we were thinking about around 1990, I wouldn't be surprised if at the moment they can be down to fA and μs.
 


In nanotech, they are used in scanning tunneling microscopes which measure leakage current that escaped from a potential barrier developed between electrodes and a sample in order to reconstruct an image.
 


Thanks a lot for your answers, this has been very helpful so far.
 

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