ResistaMet GUI

Open-source graphical interface for electrical characterization with Keithley 2400-family sourcemeters, with ASTM F84-aligned four-point-probe and ASTM F76 van der Pauw analysis built in.

Version: 1.12.3 Author: Brenden Ferland

More tabs (click to expand)

Tab	Screenshot
Resistance Measurement
Voltage Source
Current Source
4-Point Probe
I-V Sweep
Van der Pauw

Generated reproducibly via python tools/generate_screenshots.py — runs headless under Qt's offscreen platform, no instrument required.

Try it now (no instrument required)

git clone https://github.com/PEEKPerformer/ResistaMet-GUI.git
cd ResistaMet-GUI
pip install -e .
resistamet-gui --simulate

This launches the full GUI against an in-package Keithley 2400-family simulator. Every measurement mode works end-to-end with no NI-VISA and no GPIB hardware. The simulator is byte-validated against captured hardware traces — see docs/sim_fidelity.md.

Optional: --sim-resistance 1000 (1 kΩ DUT) or --sim-model 2410 (advertise a different Keithley model).

If you don't have Python, the latest GitHub release attaches a standalone Windows .exe — see Installation → Windows.

What it does

Mode	Sources	Measures	Typical use
Resistance	Current	Resistance	2- or 4-wire resistance, long-duration logging
Voltage Source	Voltage	Current	Bias stress, chronoamperometry, electrochemistry
Current Source	Current	Voltage	Material characterization
Four-Point Probe	Current	Voltage	Sheet resistance + resistivity (ASTM F84)
I-V Sweep	Voltage or Current	Current or Voltage	Diode / device curves, hysteresis
Van der Pauw	Current	Voltage	Sheet resistance on arbitrary-shape samples (ASTM F76)

Source/measure envelopes vary by model (2400 / 2401 / 2410 / 2420 / 2425 / 2430 / 2440 / 2450) — see the per-model table in the docs. Per-reading instrument uncertainty from the Keithley datasheet propagates through every derived quantity (sheet resistance, resistivity, conductivity).

Statement of need

The Keithley 2400 family is standard equipment in materials, sensor, and device-physics labs, but no open application covers the combined workflow of long-duration fixed-bias logging, four-point-probe surveys, van der Pauw, I-V sweeps, and 2-/4-wire resistance on the same instrument. ResistaMet GUI fills that gap for researchers who own a Keithley sourcemeter, don't write instrument-control code, and need every mode of that bench workflow in one point-and-click application.

Installation

git clone https://github.com/PEEKPerformer/ResistaMet-GUI.git
cd ResistaMet-GUI
pip install -e .
resistamet-gui              # real instrument (needs VISA backend)
resistamet-gui --simulate   # in-package simulator, no hardware

For VISA-backend choice (NI-VISA vs pyvisa-py), Linux Qt runtime packages, and the standalone Windows .exe path, see Installation.

Documentation

Full docs at bfer.land/ResistaMet-GUI:

• Installation — Python source install, Windows .exe, VISA backends, per-model compatibility
• Quick Start — first-measurement walkthrough + per-mode workflows
• Concepts — SMU glossary (NPLC, compliance, auto-zero, Enhanced R, F84, F76, …)
• Settings — Settings dialog reference + defaults
• Data Outputs — CSV / HDF5 / legacy JSON format + every column for every mode
• Troubleshooting — common errors and fixes

Quick Start

1. Launch and create a user profile
2. Click Test Connection to verify instrument communication (or use --simulate)
3. Enter a sample name
4. Set source level and compliance — type natural units like 1mA, 5V, 100uA
5. Click Start

Live V/I/R/P readings appear in Wong-palette colors with ± σ uncertainty; the plot updates in real time; data streams to a single .csv with a metadata header.

See Quick Start for per-mode workflows (4PP multi-spot, delta mode, vdP geometry-by-geometry, I-V sweep).

Project Structure

• resistamet_gui/ — application package. Core modules: calculations.py + calculations_vdp.py (pure F84 / F76 math), instrument.py (Keithley VISA wrapper), workers.py (QThread measurement loop + vdP state machine), data_export.py (CSV / HDF5 / legacy JSON exporters), accuracy.py (per-range datasheet specs), safety.py (touch-safety check), _simulator.py (in-package fake), and ui/ (main window, dialogs, canvas, widgets).
• tests/ — pytest suite. Unit/integration tests for every module, test_gui_smoke.py for Qt widget lifecycle, test_e2e_simulator.py for end-to-end UI-to-CSV pipeline, test_workers.py::TestSCPIContract for per-mode SCPI command assertions, tests/fakes/ (the fake instrument), tests/fixtures/scpi_traces*/ (captured hardware traces), tests/hardware/ (real-instrument tests gated by RESISTAMET_HARDWARE_ADDR).
• docs/ — mkdocs-material site sources (deployed to GitHub Pages via .github/workflows/docs.yml).
• scripts/community_capture.py — self-contained tool for contributors to capture SCPI traces from other 2400-family models.

Testing

QT_QPA_PLATFORM=offscreen pytest tests/ -v                       # unit + integration
QT_QPA_PLATFORM=offscreen pytest tests/test_e2e_simulator.py -v  # end-to-end via simulator
pytest tests/ -v --ignore=tests/test_gui_smoke.py --ignore=tests/test_e2e_simulator.py  # no Qt

CI runs both invocations on Linux + Windows × Python 3.9-3.12 — see .github/workflows/test.yml.

Version History

See CHANGELOG.md for the full version history.

Citation

If you use ResistaMet GUI in your research, please cite:

Ferland, B. (2026). ResistaMet GUI: An Open-Source Electrical Measurement Suite
for Keithley 2400-family Sourcemeters [Software]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19919751

The DOI above is the concept DOI and always resolves to the latest archived version. Zenodo also provides a per-version DOI for citing a specific release. A CITATION.cff is included in the repository for machine-readable citation metadata.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please see:

• CONTRIBUTING.md — bug reports, feature requests, development setup, and the cross-model trace contribution path.
• CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md — community guidelines.
• Issue templates — bug report, feature request, and cross-model SCPI-trace submission.

The fastest way to help right now is to run scripts/community_capture.py on any Keithley 2400-family instrument other than the 2400 and 2420 already validated in-house — see Installation → Help validate cross-model fidelity.

License

MIT License — see LICENSE.md.