Measuring Power MOSFET Characteristics

Curve tracers have generally been desiged for making measurements on bipolar transistors. While Power MOSFETs can betested satisfactorily on most curve tracers, the controls of these instruments are generally labeled with reference to bipolar transistors, and the procedure to follow in the case of MOSFETs is not immediately obvious. This application note describes methods for measuring Power MOSFET characteristics, both with a curve tracer and with special-purpose test circuits.