ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION ESD (electrostatic discharge) is a significant cause of device failures at all stages of device and equipment production, assembly, test, installation, and field use. Even though device designs include protection circuitry, it is relatively easy to generate static potentials during handling and shipping that exceed the limits of the protection networks. Damage from ESDs can cause either complete device failure by parametric shifts or device weakness by locally heating, melting or otherwise damaging oxides, junc tions, or parts of devices such as the metallized conductors. Electronic components can vary widely in their susceptibility to damage by ESD. Integrated circuits (ICs) in particular exhibit a delicate relationship be tween device design and ESD susceptibility. IC devices manufactured by two different vendors and claimed to be interchangeable may vary by a factor of 10 in their ESD susceptibilities. This chapter sets forth the fundamental principles of ESD in relation to the handling of modem elec tronic components.
