A Time Interval Meter (TIM) is a piece of test equipment that measures the exact duration between a start and stop signal. It uses a highly stable internal oscillator and digital counters to achieve nanosecond or picosecond resolution. Engineers use them to characterize propagation delays, pulse widths, and relay closing times in high-speed digital and RF circuits.
Hook the start trigger to the clock generator and the stop trigger to the output pin to get the delay on the TIM.
While TIM stands for Time Interval Meter in test labs, PC builders and thermal engineers almost always use TIM to mean Thermal Interface Material (thermal paste).
Related terms
TDC
A time-to-digital converter is an instrument or circuit that measures the time interval between two events and outputs it as a digital value.
Timebase
A reference clock or generator that controls the timing of a measurement or display.
Clock rate
The frequency at which a clock signal oscillates, measured in hertz.