30A
15A
0A
t=0ns
t=30ns
The Contact Discharge Method applies the ESD
current directly to the EUT. This method was
devised to reduce the unpredictability of the
ESD arc. The discharge current rise time is
constant since the energy is directly transferred
without the air-gap arc. In situations such as
hand held systems, the ESD charge can be directly
discharged to the equipment from a person already
holding the equipment. The current is transferred
on to the keypad or the serial port of the equipment
directly and then travels through the PCB and
finally to the IC.
t
¥
i
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Figure 8. ESD Test Waveform for IEC1000-4-2
With the Air Discharge Method, an ESD voltage
is applied to the equipment under test (EUT)
through air. This simulates an electrically charged
person ready to connect a cable onto the rear of
the system only to find an unpleasant zap just
before the person touches the back panel. The
high energy potential on the person discharges
through an arcing path to the rear panel of the
system before he or she even touches the system.
This energy, whether discharged directly or
through air, is predominantly a function of the
discharge current rather than the discharge
voltage. Variables with an air discharge such as
approach speed of the object carrying the ESD
potential to the system and humidity will tend to
change the discharge current. For example, the
rise time of the discharge current varies with the
approach speed.
The circuit models in
Figures 6
and
7
represent
the typical ESD testing circuit used for all three
methods. The C
S
is initially charged with the DC
power supply when the first switch (SW1) is on.
Now that the capacitor is charged, the second
switch (SW2) is on while SW1 switches off. The
voltage stored in the capacitor is then applied
through R
S
, the current limiting resistor, onto the
device under test (DUT). In ESD tests, the SW2
switch is pulsed so that the device under test
receives a duration of voltage.
For the Human Body Model, the current limiting
resistor (R
S
) and the source capacitor (C
S
) are
1.5kΩ an 100pF, respectively. For IEC-1000-4-
2, the current limiting resistor (R
S
) and the source
capacitor (C
S
) are 330Ω an 150pF, respectively.
The higher C
S
value and lower R
S
value in the
IEC1000-4-2 model are more stringent than the
Human Body Model. The larger storage capacitor
injects a higher voltage to the test point when
SW2 is switched on. The lower current limiting
resistor increases the current charge onto the test
point.
IEC1000-4-2
Direct Contact
±8kV
±8kV
SP385E
Family
Driver Outputs
Receiver Inputs
HUMAN BODY
MODEL
±15kV
±15kV
Air Discharge
±15kV
±15kV
Level
4
4
Table 1. Transceiver ESD Tolerance Levels
Rev. 10/22/01
SP385E Enhanced +3V to +5V RS-232 Line Driver/Receiver
© Copyright 2001 Sipex Corporation
8
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