static discharge esd electro static electricity lightning polymers electrons resistance conductors friction tribocharging atomic induction magnetic field charge antistatic surfactants fillers transfer humidity insulators free volts shock gate leakage latent failure current
Reade Advanced Materials offers a briefing on:
Electrostatic Discharges (ESD)
(Publicly Available Information)
__________________________________________
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
The following information is offered as a public service and at no charge by Reade Advanced Materials for informal and general reference purposes only. Please contact the ESD Association or The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in Quincy, MA (telephone number: 1-617-770-3000) for confirmation of this information.
___________________________________________
Basic Concepts in Electrostatic Discharge (ESD)
We have all seen static electricity in the form of lightning or perhaps felt the zap when reaching for a door
knob. Similar types of electrical charges can have an effect on the electronic components you handle every day in your work.
Unfortunately, their effect is much more hazardous and not as readily apparent.
Definition:
Static electricity is an electrical charge at rest. Static electricity is most commonly created by friction and separation.
Friction causes heat which excites the molecular particles of the material. When two materials are then separated, a transfer of
electrons from one material to the other may take place.
As electrons transfer, the absence or surplus of electrons creates an electrical field known as static electricity. The
simple separation of two materials, as when tape is pulled off a roll, can also create this same transfer of electrons between
materials, generating static electrical fields.
The amount of static electricity generated depends upon the materials subjected to friction or separation, the amount of
friction or separation and the relative humidity of the environment. Common plastic generally will create the greatest
static charge. Low humidity conditions such as those created when air is heated during the winter will also promote the generation
of significant static electrical charges.
Materials that easily transfer electrons (or charge) between atoms are called conductors and are said to have "free"
electrons. Some examples of conductors are metals, carbon and the human body's sweat layer. Materials that do not easily transfer
electrons are called insulators. Some well known insulators are common plastics, glass and air. Both conductors and insulators
may become "charged" with static electricity. When a conductor is charged, the free electrons give it the ability to
discharge rapidly when it comes close to another conductor with a different potential.
Typical Electrostatic Voltages:
Many of the common activities you perform daily may generate charges on your body that are potentially harmful to components.
Some of these activities include:
a) Walking across a carpet= 1,500 to 35,000 volts
b) Walking over untreated vinyl floor= 250 to 12,000 volts
c) Worker at a bench= 700 to 6,000 volts
d) Vinyl envelope used for work instructions= 600 to 7,000 volts
e) Picking up a common plastic bag from a bench= 1,200 to 20,000
volts
Costly Effects of ESD:
When you feel a static shock, you are experiencing a minimum of 3,000 volts of electricity. This "shock" known as
Electro Static Discharge or ESD also may be responsible for damaging many of the rejected electronic components in your
company.
While you can feel electrostatic discharges of 3,000 volts, smaller charges are below the threshold of human sensation.
Unfortunately, smaller charges can and do damage semiconductor devices. Many of the CMOS technology components used in your
facility can be damaged by charges of less than 1,000 volts. Some of the more sophisticated components can be damaged by charges as
low as 10 volts. You should be aware of the relative sensitivity to ESD damage of devices you may be working with.
As electronic technology advances, electronic components tend to become smaller and smaller. As the size of the components is
reduced, so is the microscopic spacing of insulators and circuits within them, increasing their sensitivity to ESD. As you can
predict, the need of proper ESD protection increases everyday.
Types of ESD Damage:
Static damage to components can take the form of upset failures or catastrophic failures. Upset failures - result in gate leakage
Catastrophic failures - occur in two forms, Direct and Latent. Direct catastrophic failures occur when a component is damaged to
the point where it is DEAD NOW and it will never again function. This is the easiest type of ESD damage to find since it usually
can be detected during testing.
Latent failures occur when ESD weakens or wounds the component to the point where it will still function properly during testing,
but over time the wounded component will cause poor system performance and eventually complete system failure. Because
latent failures occur after final inspection or in the hands of your customer, the cost for repair is very high. Not only is this
type of damage hard to find, but it severely affects the reputation of your company's product.
An upset failure occurs when an electrostatic discharge has caused a current flow that is not significant enough to cause
total failure, but in use may intermittently result in gate leakage causing loss of software or incorrect storage of
information.
Upset or latent failures may pass your company's quality control testing program. In other words, static damage may occur that
cannot be felt, seen, or detected through normal testing procedures.
Think of Static As Contamination!
Damage caused by invisible and undetectable events can be understood by comparing ESD damage to medical contamination of
the human body by viruses or bacteria. Although viruses and bacteria are invisible, they can cause severe damage even before
you can detect their presence. A defense against this invisible threat is sterilization.
As an employee, the hidden threat of electrostatic discharge or ESD should be of great concern to you. ESD damage can
significantly reduce your company's profitability. This may affect your profit sharing, your company's ability to compete in
the market place and even your employment. Everyone likes to take pride in their work, but without proper ESD controls, your best
efforts may be destroyed by static electricity that you can neither feel nor see.
Courtesy Of: Desco Industries
________________________________________
Useful ESD Links
Electrostatics Society of America
Institute of Electrostatics- Japan
Electrostatic Discharge Association
Lightning Protection Institute-Frequently asked questions about lightning
Educational Electrostatics Demonstration Links- ****
Fire Safety During Or After A Disaster (FEMA)
Lightning Disaster Recommendations (FEMA)
Telephone Contact Numbers:
East Coast USA: +1-401-433-7000 / West Coast USA: +1-775-352-1000 / Latin
América: +507-314-1282
©1997 Reade Advanced Materials, All Rights Reserved.
Legal Disclosure
To report problems with this site, send your e-mail to: webmaster@reade.com
/ general key words: aas abrasive acid activated additive aerosol agglomerates air alloy alpha aluminide american amorphous ampoule angstrom argon atomization bar basis bead beta black blending blocks black brazing briquette brown bubble buckyball buckytube calcined can card ceramic chip chop circular clad classification coating cold colloidal commerce commercial composite compound conductive credit crushed cryogenic crystal crystalline cubes custom cylinder dendritic dense density deposition diameter dielectric dimensional disc discontinuous discover disposable distilled doped drop drum dry dust e-commerce electronic electrolytic elemental enriched evaporation express felt fiber filings fine filler flake foam foil food grade frit fullerene fused gamma gas gauze glass grade grain granule granular grignard grinding grit ground heat hexane helium homogenizing hot inch in inert ingot inorganic intermetallic irregular jar j-i-t just leaf liquid lump kanban magnetic massive master media memory mesh metal metallic melted metallic micro micron microcrystalline milling millimeter mineral mm molecule mro nanocrystal nanomaterial nanometer nanophase nanostructure nanotube nanowire natural needle nitrogen nrc oil optical organic packaging particle paste pellets pharmaceutical grade phase pieces planar plasma spray plastic plate platelet polishing polycrystalline polymer porous powder ppm precipitated precious precursor premium pressed pressure printing processing procurement pulverize puratronic pvd pzt quasicrystal radioactive random rapid rare earth reacted reaction reagent rectangular red redistilled reduction refined reinforcement remelted ring rod round screening secure service set shape sheet shot sieve sifting single sink size slug soft solder solid solidification soot sphere spherical spheroidal splinter sponge sputtering sintered sol gel stabilized standard sub sublimed superabrasive super superalloy superconductor synthesis synthetic tablets tabular target tear technical test dust thermal spray thick three thin time toll tpn tube turnings tzm ultrathin un under uncalcined undistilled vacuum visa water wire whisker wool yarn yellow / / compound key words: acrylic aluminate arsenide babbitt boride bromide carbide carbonate cermet chloride clad codep cubane cupric cuprous deoxidizer ferric ferrous fluoride fused hydride hydroxide iodide imide manganin mes metallizing nitrate nitride organometallic oxide oxychloride phosphate phosphide salt selenide silicide sulfide sulfate 3d 3-d telluride titanate tungstate vanadate zirconate // elements key words: actinium alumina americium aluminum nitride aluminum oxide aluminum powder antimony powder barium beryllium bismuth powder boron nitride boron carbide calcium chromium powder copper powder germanium glass powder gold powder hafnium powder indium powder iron powder carbonyl iron powder iron oxide lanthanum lithium magnesium powder magnesium oxide manganese powder manganese di oxide molybdenum powder mullite neodymium powder nickel powder nickel oxide palladium powder phosphorus platinum powder potassium rhenium rhodium rubidium ruthenium powder samarium scandium selenium powder silicon powder silicon carbide silicon dioxide silica silicon nitride silver powder silver oxide sodium strontium sulfur tantalum powder tellurium, terbium, thallium, tin powder tin oxide titanium powder titanium carbide titanium diboride titanium dioxide titania titanium nitride titanium oxide tungsten powder tungsten oxide vanadium powder, vanadium oxide, yttrium powder, yttrium oxide, yttria zinc powder zinc dust zinc oxide zirconium powder zirconium oxide zirconia / / mineral key words: anatase baddeleyite barite basalt bauxite bentonite boehmite boric acid boric oxide borax celestite chromite clay colemanite cordierite corundum cristobalite cryolite cuprite diamond diatomaceous earth diatomite diopside dolomite emery enstatite feldspar flint fluorite fluorspar fullers earth galena garnet goethite granite graphite gypsum hematite ilmenite kaolin kyanite lime limestone magnesite magnetite manganite mica micaceous iron oxide mio molybdenite monazite montmorillonite muscovite nickel-iron olivine sand flour perlite petalite pumice pyrite iron pyrite quartz quartzite rock wool rutile sand scheelite sillmanite smectite soapstone spinel spodumene stibnite sulfide sulfate sulfur talc trap rock triploi vermiculite wheat chaff wheat starch wollastonite zeolite zircon sand fluor zirconium silicate / / general key words: aas abrasive acid activated additive aerosol agglomerates air alloy alpha aluminide american amorphous ampoule angstrom argon atomization bar basis bead beta black blending blocks black brazing briquette brown bubble buckyball buckytube calcined can card ceramic chip chop circular clad classification coating cold colloidal commerce commercial composite compound conductive credit crushed cryogenic crystal crystalline cubes custom cylinder dendritic dense density deposition diameter dielectric dimensional disc discontinuous discover disposable distilled doped drop drum dry dust e-commerce electronic electrolytic elemental enriched evaporation express felt fiber filings fine filler flake foam foil food grade frit fullerene fused gamma gas gauze glass grade grain granule granular grignard grinding grit ground heat hexane helium homogenizing hot inch in inert ingot inorganic intermetallic irregular jar j-i-t just leaf liquid lump kanban magnetic massive master media memory mesh metal metallic melted metallic micro micron microcrystalline milling millimeter mineral mm molecule mro nanocrystal nanomaterial nanometer nanophase nanostructure nanotube nanowire natural needle nitrogen nrc oil optical organic packaging particle paste pellets pharmaceutical grade phase pieces planar plasma spray plastic plate platelet polishing polycrystalline polymer porous powder ppm precipitated precious precursor premium pressed pressure printing processing procurement pulverize puratronic pvd pzt quasicrystal radioactive random rapid rare earth reacted reaction reagent rectangular red redistilled reduction refined reinforcement remelted ring rod round screening secure service set shape sheet shot sieve sifting single sink size slug soft solder solid solidification soot sphere spherical spheroidal splinter sponge sputtering sintered sol gel stabilized standard sub sublimed superabrasive super superalloy superconductor synthesis synthetic tablets tabular target tear technical test dust thermal spray thick three thin time toll tpn tube turnings tzm ultrathin un under uncalcined undistilled vacuum visa water wire whisker wool yarn yellow / / compound key words: acrylic aluminate arsenide babbitt boride bromide carbide carbonate cermet chloride clad codep cubane cupric cuprous deoxidizer ferric ferrous fluoride fused hydride hydroxide iodide imide manganin mes metallizing nitrate nitride organometallic oxide oxychloride phosphate phosphide salt selenide silicide sulfide sulfate 3d 3-d telluride titanate tungstate vanadate zirconate // elements key words: actinium alumina americium aluminum nitride aluminum oxide aluminum powder antimony powder barium beryllium bismuth powder boron nitride boron carbide calcium chromium powder copper powder germanium glass powder gold powder hafnium powder indium powder iron powder carbonyl iron powder iron oxide lanthanum lithium magnesium powder magnesium oxide manganese powder manganese di oxide molybdenum powder mullite neodymium powder nickel powder nickel oxide palladium powder phosphorus platinum powder potassium rhenium rhodium rubidium ruthenium powder samarium scandium selenium powder silicon powder silicon carbide silicon dioxide silica silicon nitride silver powder silver oxide sodium strontium sulfur tantalum powder tellurium, terbium, thallium, tin powder tin oxide titanium powder titanium carbide titanium diboride titanium dioxide titania titanium nitride titanium oxide tungsten powder tungsten oxide vanadium powder, vanadium oxide, yttrium powder, yttrium oxide, yttria zinc powder zinc dust zinc oxide zirconium powder zirconium oxide zirconia / / mineral key words: anatase baddeleyite barite basalt bauxite bentonite boehmite boric acid boric oxide borax celestite chromite clay colemanite cordierite corundum cristobalite cryolite cuprite diamond diatomaceous earth diatomite diopside dolomite emery enstatite feldspar flint fluorite fluorspar fullers earth galena garnet goethite granite graphite gypsum hematite ilmenite kaolin kyanite lime limestone magnesite magnetite manganite mica micaceous iron oxide mio molybdenite monazite montmorillonite muscovite nickel-iron olivine sand flour perlite petalite pumice pyrite iron pyrite quartz quartzite rock wool rutile sand scheelite sillmanite smectite soapstone spinel spodumene stibnite sulfide sulfate sulfur talc trap rock triploi vermiculite wheat chaff wheat starch wollastonite zeolite zircon sand fluor zirconium silicate /