ESD Systems - Questions And Answers

It is sometime mentioned that ESD are cumulative in effect, i.e., some minor discharge may not break down the device/owyde /junction, but create leakages. Then, several of these "minor" discharges are able to create catastrophic defect. What is the point? Does it exist some papers on this subject? - Anonymous, Toulouse, France

The point is that ESD can degrade or shorten the life span of any electronic product, which can in turn increase the warranty and repair costs and decrease customer satisfaction with your products. This is a big quality issue and can save companies 100s of 1,000s of dollars a year in defects, returns, scrap, repairs, etc. Ted Danglemayer of Lucent Technologies has a new book out that shows a graph of the relative cost benefit to compliance to an ESD program on the front cover. For example, Lucent Technologies’ manufacturing suffered losses estimated to be in excess of $325 million per year before instituting ESD controls. There are a plethora of technical papers on this subject within the collection of EOS/ESD Symposium Proceedings which can be obtained directly from the ESD Association in Rome, New York at: ESD Association 7900 Turin Road Building 3, Suite 2 Rome, NY 13440-2069 Phone: (315) 339-6937 Fax: (315) 339-6793 http://www.borg.com/~eosesd/

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