Zurich Instruments MFIA Impedance Analyzer

[electrolust]

Anyone have any familiarity with the company and specifically the MFIA product?  Kind of neat, it is a USB device (no display or controls on the device itself) that has a built-in web server so you don't need client software -- that has plusses and minuses of course but for me it's generally a plus.

I'm sure it's made in China but looking at their website and the user manual, it's extremely high quality first-world stuff.  It's made in Switzerland per the user manual.

Newish company (2008) and a brand new product (2016), and the first analyzer they've made.  They are leveraging their original product (Lock-In Amplifier) to make some other products.

From their user manual, it appears to use the "RF I-V" measurement technique (as described in Keysight Impedance Measurement Handbook, 5950-3000), but applying it at low frequencies.  Perhaps they do this where others don't, because (again) they are leveraging the primary IP of their Amplifier and it happens to be cost effective for them.  Or perhaps, not being a generalized test equipment manufacturer but rather owning some specific IP, they are force-fitting their particular hammer to this not-quite-a-nail problem.

It seems to me that the auto balancing bridge method is probably cheaper (?), and effective at LF, so general TE manufacturers are always going to to that route.

At $14k for the 5MHz option, compared to say $20k for an "only" 2MHz Keysight E4980A, it seems a bargain if it's truly a high quality product with a valid application of the measurement technique.  But, for my use case,

- not available used
- no resale value
- 1st gen product, it absolutely has bugs and the UI will be buggy
- no standalone operation
- lack of USA presence

An E4980A is actually cheaper for someone like me.  I can buy it used and resell it after my project.  But I have academic curiosity .

[ZITim]

Hi Electrolust,

I’m the product manager responsible for the MFIA at Zurich Instruments. Firstly, thanks for your comments.  I’d also like to address some of the points you raised about the MFIA:

In addition to USB, the MFIA has Ethernet connectivity (so it can be used remotely) and wifi connectivity (if you don’t want a direct connection to the instrument).

It is indeed an I-V type of Impedance Analyzer, so we measure the current through the DUT and voltage drop across simultaneously, along with the phase.

We decided against the auto-balanced bridge approach, as they are limited by a lower frequency limit of typically 20 Hz. I-V instruments can go down to 1 mHz and below, and offer better accuracy. ABBs also have a limited impedance range, and struggle to measure above 100 MOhm, whereas an I-V instrument such as the MFIA can measure up to 1 TOhm https://www.zhinst.com/products/mfia#specifications.

The software is indeed an important consideration when purchasing an instrument, as it often determines the work efficiency you will achieve. Our instrument control software is called LabOne and after about 5 years of development quite mature. We take great effort to provide our customers with the best possible user experience but this is really hard to convey through text here. We have a couple of videos on our website that will give you a nice overview and I’d be also happy to set up a screen sharing session to give you a personal tour.

I can’t answer about the availability of used instruments, as our customers seem not to want to sell them on . In the past there have been a few cases where companies sold their Zurich Instruments lock-in amplifiers after a project was finished. We do support this and make no distinction between the original buyer and the new owner when it comes to providing support and free software updates.

You are also right that we do not have US office at the moment. However, our US customers are very happy with our fast turnaround time and the fact that they have direct access to the person with the best knowledge and experience depending on their question.

Hope this helps, I’d be certainly happy to learn more about your requirements and purchase considerations.

Cheers,
Tim