What is ESD? Learn more about the basics of electrostatic charge

A crackling sweater, hair that sticks straight out from your head, a small electric shock from a door handle.

We're all familiar with those moments when there's a discharge of static electricity. This phenomenon is known as electrostatic discharge or ESD.

ESD often occurs in very common everyday situations like when walking on a carpet in plastic sold shoes.

When this happens, mainly negative electrical charges are picked up and distributed across the entire surface of the object or body.

If contact is then made with another conductive body or with ground, this charge suddenly flows off.

Depending on the number of volts involved, it will be possible to feel, hear, and see this phenomenon in the form of a spark or a flash.

Voltages of over 10,000 volts can easily arise in modern workplaces, and although this would pose no danger to people, it could mean the end for electronic devices.

Plastics in particular are very susceptible to electrostatic charging due to their high surface resistance. For example, the surface potential of a normal plastic box is anywhere up to 20,000 volts.

A dangerous environment for any electronic devices transported inside it. Electrostatic discharge sensitive devices are known as ESDS devices and are identified by this symbol.

As miniaturization gathers pace, such devices are becoming more and more sensitive to ESD.

The extremely thin conducting paths in active electronic components like ICs are often unable to withstand the high ESD voltages involved.

Some of the damage sustained in this way is clearly visible, but some can only be seen under an electron microscope.

These different types of damage are referred to as direct faults and latent faults.

With a direct fault, the device is either visibly damaged or its function is impaired. Damage like this can be sustained when taking measurements, for example.

However, less than 30% of all damage caused by an ESD event is direct damage. Such faults are relatively easy to identify and can be remedied at a comparatively low cost.

The rate of damage due to what are known as latent or intrinsic faults is much higher.

These faults cannot be detected when the devices or components are delivered, since they will still work. Only once they're operating might failures arise, which can have severe consequences.

If damage within assemblies leads to production line stoppages, this can result in huge costs due to servicing or repair work.

Spaces that are free of ESD provide effective protection against damage caused by electrostatic discharge.

Within these electrostatic discharge protected areas or EPAs, all necessary precautionary measures are taken.

to ensure that work can be carried out with electrostatic sensitive devices without the risk of damaging them.

The only way to safeguard quality and the company's success in the long term is to take the professional handling of electronic devices seriously.