Accurate Subpicoampere Current Source Based on a Differentiating Capacitor With Software-Controlled Nonlinearity Compensation.

A high accuracy current source has been developed for the generation of very small currents (below 200 pA) based on applying a linear voltage ramp to a capacitor. Using software-controlled compensation for the nonlinearity of the voltage ramp, a stable current can be reached within a few seconds. A voltage ramp within typically 10.10-6 of any desired value between less than 1 mV/s and several hundreds of mV/s can be realized. Using a high quality air-dielectric capacitor, currents below 200 pA can be generated With an uncertainty of 20 μA/A (k = 2), with a lower limit 0f 2.0 aA (k=2). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]