New source measure unit architecture for control loop configurability

Source-measure units (SMUs) can be extremely susceptible to the electrical characteristics of the unit under test (UUT) that is acting as a load, occasionally leading to marginal stability, sub-optimal settling times, dangerous overshoots, and even sustained oscillation. Surprisingly, very little has been done to address this issue, and most vendors are content to “specify around it”: effectively telling users that if a certain load causes the device to misbehave, they shouldn't be using that load.