Improper handling of electronic assemblies with microcircuits during testing, production, and repair can still cause catastrophic and latent damage. Designers have developed protection methods that reduce ESD susceptibility after the product is completely packaged, so you might not see any damage to final products, but those who build or repair electronic assemblies still have to take precautions not to damage items.
If you are familiar with and employ standard ESD handling procedures you will be safe. The ESD Association has training on their web site https://www.esda.org/esd-overview/esd-fundamentals/part-1-an-introduction-to-esd/
This is the most important ESD fact: "Static is generated by the contact and separation of unlike materials". That means "you" probably are the biggest ESD hazard around your workbench. When you get up out of your chair many thousands of volts can be generated. Grounded wrist straps prevent damage from this.
Humidity is a big factor in reducing ESD damage. If you live near the ocean you won't have as much ESD susceptibility as someone working in Colorado.
It's not only electronics that are affected by ESD. Perhaps you have seen the ESD warning signs on gas station pumps. People sliding out of a car that is being fueled has caused fires. Filling metal gas cans in pickup trucks with bed liners can be hazardous; The only safe way to fill a gas can is to place it on the ground.
The pictures shown here are from Sherlock's Failure Analysis Laboratory. They show the physical damage to microcircuits that was caused by static electricity.
Sherlock is a NARTE* "Electrostatic Discharge Control, Certified Engineer" (ESD-00020-NE).
*National Association of Radio and Telecommunications Engineers, Inc.






| W0RW | 2020-02-27 | |
|---|---|---|
| Re: Sherlock Investigates: Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Protection: | ||
| There has always been a misconception that the ESD ground has to be a hard 100 Amp ground. That is false. The ESD ground should be a high resistance ground so that if you place an ESD sensitive item on a static mat it won't discharge a big high current pulse. You want the charge to bleed off slowly so it won't damage the ESD sensitive item. Placing your items in tin foil is OK if you don't have anything else but you should use static dissipative bags to hold or package items. (Your static safe work area could be hundreds of volts above ground, the only important thing is the potential between you and the sensitive item). If you are using a soldering iron then everything better be very close to ground. Test your soldering iron and ground it if it has voltage on it referenced to ground. If it has voltage on it, it can over stress and blow up your sensitive items. Your wrist strap should have a 1 megohm resistor in series to ground so that you won't get shocked and so that you will cause a slow discharge if you touch a charged item. A slow discharge might not damage a sensitive item but a fast high current discharge can damage it. It is sort of like RF grounding. A dipole doesn't need a big copper ground pipe for a ground. Sherlock Reply to a comment by : W0RW on 2020-02-27 Yes, Those 'Walking Wounded' are called latent defects or devices with parametric degradation from ESD strikes. Most of the ESD damage pictures in the article were found using a curve tracer looking for resistive leakage. It took a long time to convince people that semiconductor devices could be partially damaged by Static and fail later in the field. Now even Walmart sells Anti-Static Workstations. There is no excuse for not handling static sensitive items at a static safe workstation. Just search eBay, Walmart or Google for Anti Static Workstation Mat Wrist-Strap. They can be purchased for $20. You just need a mat, a wrist strap (to ground you) and some wire to ground the mat. Sherlock Reply to a comment by : KW6LA on 2020-02-25 We have a term at work called walking wounded. Meaning it took a slight ESD hit but still working. The newer Ham electronics need to be handle with ESD discharge in mind. It can be complicated and most need training. Knowing to keep triboelectric generators off work benches, using air ionizers and certifying wrist straps and pads are working . We use 20% RH as appoint to stop all work. Good topic, but most Hams don’t have the proper equipment to set up a ESD work station. | ||
| W0RW | 2020-02-27 | |
|---|---|---|
| Re: Sherlock Investigates: Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Protection: | ||
| Yes, Those 'Walking Wounded' are called latent defects or devices with parametric degradation from ESD strikes. Most of the ESD damage pictures in the article were found using a curve tracer looking for resistive leakage. It took a long time to convince people that semiconductor devices could be partially damaged by Static and fail later in the field. Now even Walmart sells Anti-Static Workstations. There is no excuse for not handling static sensitive items at a static safe workstation. Just search eBay, Walmart or Google for Anti Static Workstation Mat Wrist-Strap. They can be purchased for $20. You just need a mat, a wrist strap (to ground you) and some wire to ground the mat. Sherlock Reply to a comment by : KW6LA on 2020-02-25 We have a term at work called walking wounded. Meaning it took a slight ESD hit but still working. The newer Ham electronics need to be handle with ESD discharge in mind. It can be complicated and most need training. Knowing to keep triboelectric generators off work benches, using air ionizers and certifying wrist straps and pads are working . We use 20% RH as appoint to stop all work. Good topic, but most Hams don’t have the proper equipment to set up a ESD work station. | ||
| KW6LA | 2020-02-25 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sherlock Investigates: Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Protection: | ||
| We have a term at work called walking wounded. Meaning it took a slight ESD hit but still working. The newer Ham electronics need to be handle with ESD discharge in mind. It can be complicated and most need training. Knowing to keep triboelectric generators off work benches, using air ionizers and certifying wrist straps and pads are working . We use 20% RH as appoint to stop all work. Good topic, but most Hams don’t have the proper equipment to set up a ESD work station. | ||