Keithley Instruments Inc.

From its early days pioneering DC electrical measurement techniques for post-World War II lab researchers to today's solutions for advanced semiconductors, wireless, and nanotechnology applications, Keithley Instruments has built a worldwide reputation among engineers and scientists for advanced electrical measurement performance.

The company, founded in 1946 by Joseph F. Keithley in a Cleveland, Ohio, workshop, has consistently led the industry in developing test and measurement solutions for emerging measurement needs. Its products in the early days were designed for government and university physicists and scientists, who came to depend on the company's unique expertise in ultra-low-level voltage and current measurement. In fact, throughout the company's history, Nobel Prize winners relied on their Keithley test instruments as important tools in their research.

During the ensuing decades, as the world's demand for semiconductors, cell phones, portable wireless devices, and consumer electronics grew, the company's measurement portfolio expanded beyond sensitive DC instruments to include RF (radio frequency) tools, pulse measurement techniques and AC test equipment. Its products today are found in use far beyond the research lab, though that remains a core strength of the company. Keithley's measurement tools are as vital on the designer's bench as on the production floor for high-volume automated test applications. The ability of Keithley's solutions to make even the most demanding, low-level measurements with precision enables Keithley customers to improve their products and processes, and to accelerate their R&D and time-to-market cycles.