ESD Fundamentals

and Handling Procedures

 Why Do We Need ESD Training?

Reminder that ESD is a serious problem in the

entire electronics industry.
• For the last decade EOS/ESD has been the most
predominant failure mechanism across all product lines.

• It is believed that 25% of all component

failures are a result of ESD*.

*Bernard S. Matisoff, Handbook Of Electrostatic Discharge Control (ESD), Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1986
 Definitions

• Electrical Over Stress (EOS) - The exposure of an item to a

current or voltage beyond its maximum ratings.

• Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) - The transfer of electrostatic

charge between bodies or surfaces at different electrostatic
potential. ESD is a subset of EOS.
 EOS General

Lightning EOS Specific ESD

Extremely High Voltage Low Voltage (16V) High Voltage (4 kV)
Extremely High Power Longer Duration Short Duration
Low Power Very Low Power
Fast Rise Time

Failure analysis still has some difficulty

differentiating between EOS and ESD.
 1994 Failure Analysis Summary of
Customer Failures

March 1993 Semiconductor Reliability News

Ranking of 3400 failures from MFG., Test and Field EOS/ESD (20%)
14 Other Listed Categories
Each Accounting for <4%
each (30%)

Unknown (16%)

Other (10%)

Shear Stress Not Verified Gold Ball Bonds

(4%) (6%) (14%)
 Static Electricity vs ESD

Static Electricity
Static electricity is electric charge at rest. This charge is a
result of electron transfer from one object to another, or
within the object itself due to polarization.

Electrostatic Discharge (ESD)

ESD is the transfer of electrostatic charge between objects or
surfaces that are at different electrostatic potentials. It occurs
when the potential difference is sufficient to breakdown the
dielectric separating the objects or surfaces.
Capacitance - The ability of an object to store charge. This
relationship is defined as C=Q/V regardless of configuration,
size, or shape of the elements of the capacitor.
Conductivity - The ability to conduct current. It is the inverse of
resistance.
ESD Protected Packaging - a packaging system that provides
electrostatic shielding and limits triboelectric charging for ESDS
devices.
ESD Test Models - Standardized models used to perform
component testing to provide information regarding the
sensitivity of devices to ESD. The current ESD test models
used are Human Body Model (HBM), Machine Model (MM),
and Charged Device Model (CDM).
Ground - A conducting connection between electrical circuits or
equipment and the earth, or to some conducting body that
serves in place of earth.
Inductive Charging - The transfer of electric charge to an object
when it is momentarily contacted to ground in the presence
of an electric field.

Resistance - A measure of a material's opposition to current flow.

This measurement is used in classification of materials as
conductive, static-dissipative or insulative.

Triboelectric Charging - The generation of electrostatic charge

when two materials are contacted or rubbed together and then
separated.

Voltage Suppression - The situation where a charged object's

voltage decreases by increasing its capacitance rather than
decreasing the object's charge.
 History
• Static electricity has been a curiosity for
many hundreds of years.

• After the invention of gun powder by the

Chinese, it was no longer a curiosity for
anyone manufacturing that product.

• During the Revolutionary War in the

United States, gun powder was made in
mud-walled huts with wet mud floors.

• Today, special precautions are taken by

industries where static sparks could
cause an explosion, e.g., flour mills,
hospital operating rooms, etc.
 History
• For most of the rest of the U.S., static
electricity remained just a curiosity.

• In the 40s and 50s it became a problem

for the plastics and film industry.

• In the 50s and 60s it became a problem

for the electronics industry.

• Strange failures occurred, and the

cause of the problem was not easily
seen with the optical microscopes -
failure analysis read: cause unknown.
 History
• Popularity of MOS Transistors and
development of ICs exacerbated problem.

• In the 70s as IC geometries shrunk, the

problem got worse.

• Real breakthrough came with the use of the

Scanning Electron Microscope (late 70s) by the
semiconductor industry. For the first time even
the smallest ESD damage was readily visible.

• In 1979, the EOS/ESD Symposium was initiated

to investigate and find solutions to ESD
problems.
 History

• By the early 80s, most major

electronics manufacturers had
established their internal ESD
organizations to grapple with the
problem.

• EOS/ESD is perhaps the most

significant failure mechanism in the
electronics industry today.
 Tribocharging

Whenever two dissimilar materials

make contact and then are separated,
a static charge is created.

This situation occurs when one or both of

the materials are insulators.

Static charge is greatly enhanced when

rubbing occurs. The heat of friction
supplies enough energy for the electrons
to transfer.
 Increasing Positive
Air
Human Hand
Rabbit Fur
Glass
Mica
Triboelectric Series Human Hair
Nylon
Factors to consider: Wool
Silk
Humidity Aluminum
Speed of separation Paper
Type of material Cotton
Contact area Steel
Wood
Amber
Hard Rubber
Nickel, Copper
Brass, Silver
Polyester
Polyethylene
Polypropylene
PVC (Vinyl)
Teflon
Increasing Negative
 Charge Characteristics

Like Charges Repel Unlike Charges Attract

+ + + -
 Static Charging

Material Charge Transfer Net Charge

Before Rubbing/Contact After Rubbing/Contact

Between Material “A” and “B” Between Material “A” and “B”

+ + +- + +
- -
Lose Electrons +-
- + -
+ + - + + + + + +
- -

- Gain Electrons -
-+ + - + - - + - +
-
+ + - - - - -
- + - +
 Conductivity

Difference between conductor and insulator is that conductors

permit the flow of electricity, while insulators do not.
Conductors therefore have the ability to drain their
charge when grounded.

• Conductors distribute charge over entire conductive

surface.
• Floating conductors can become charged either positive or
negative.
• Positive and negative charges can exist as localized charge
on the same insulator.
 Conductors vs Insulators
Charged Conductor Charged Insulator

Conductor evenly distributes Opposite polarity charges can

charge over entire surface. exist on the same insulator.

Conductor completely Insulators do not allow charge to flow.

discharges when grounded. Grounding an insulator neither removes
charge or prevents surface charges.
 Surface Resistivity (ρs)
Ohms/square
Classification
(Present classification)
104 105 1012

Static
Shielding

Conductive Static Dissipative Insulative

Conductive ρs < 105 Ω/sq.

Static Dissipative 105 ≤ ρs < 1012 Ω/sq.
Insulative ρs ≥ 1012 Ω/sq.
 Induction

Isolated Conductor

Conductor in Presence
of an Electric Field
 Induction
A situation where a charge is induced on an isolated
conductor due to an influence of an electrostatic field.

ESD By Induction
+ + +
+ + + + + + CDM(+)

- - + ++ + + +
Event #1
-- + - -
--

Device in presence of Device momentarily grounded

electric field. results in 1st CDM event.
(A) (B)
CDM(-)
Event #2

- - -
-

Device left with Second CDM event when

net charge. grounding in a later step.
(C) (D)
Catastrophic vs Latent "Walking Wounded"

Catastrophic Damage

• Causes a device to be non functional.

"Walking Wounded"

• Degrades a device parameter (e.g. leakage, breakdown).

• May still pass functional and parametric test.
• Major reliability problem.
 Example of "Walking Wounded"

I I

10 uA / Div
10 uA / Div

V V

5 V / Div 5 V / Div
Trace of normal data input. Same trace degraded by
500 V ESD pulse.
Passing Criterion (single point measurement)
Ileakage ≤ 10µA @ 5V

D. Frank, Soft Failures – The Invisible Mode, 1982, McDonnell Douglas Corporation
 Latent Failures

A malfunction that occurs following a period of normal

operation. It may be hours, days, months or even years.
Damage is not simply the cost of the component, but also
cost of labor and all expenses associated with field repair.
Could result in loss of business due to customer
dissatisfaction.
 FAILURE MODES
CDM Oxide Damage CDM Device Damage

- I leak > 1 nA. - I leak > 1 µA.

Chaine, ESD Symp. 1994 Duvvury & Amerasekera, ESD Symp. 1996

CDM stress can cause either oxide or drain-source filament damage. Proper voltage
clamps can be used to avoid the oxide failures, and effective protection devices can be
implemented to handle the high CDM current levels.
 ESD Leakage Failure in LDD
Device
Gate Edge Drain Contact

In LDD devices small melt filaments can occur at the gate edge. These
lead to low level leakage that increases as the ESD stress level is
increased. In such cases it becomes difficult where to draw a line for
acceptable failure criterion. Process modifications are used to reduce
these low-level leakage effects.
 ESD FAILURE MODES

Junction Edge Damage (Notching) Filamentation

leak < 1 µA leak ≈ 10 µA

Permanent damage can occur with HBM or MM stress as shown here. The
leakage is usually excessive and is a failure to the specification.
Amerasekera and Duvvury, ESD In Silicon Integrated Circuits, John Wiley 1995.
 Semiconductor Geometries
Continue to Shrink
• 10 micron technology (early 70s) → 0.18 micron
technology (present)
• As geometries shrink, ESD sensitivity level drops
(more sensitive to ESD).
• To minimize the detrimental effects of ESD, we
must:
– Provide adequate on chip protection circuits (that
will meet at least ± 2 kV Human Body Model,
± 1KV Charged Device Model).
– Follow proper ESD handling procedures.
Protection Circuitry:General Comments
• During an ESD event the protection
must go to low impedance state.

• The design of the protection circuit must be

such that it is inactive during normal
operation.

• The protection circuit must turn on quickly.

Typical ESD Protection Device
Vdd/Vcc

Input Circuit to be
pad protected
 Personnel As Static Generators
Contact between footwear
and non-ESD safe floor
--

--
generates charge due to
--
contact/separation and friction.
--

++
++ +++

If the person does not discharge

to ground, charge will persist or
increase with movement. Voltage
will vary with capacitance changes
due to body movement.
Table of Typical Generated Electrostatic Voltages*
(VALUES SHOWN IN VOLTS)

* TED DANGELMAYER, ESD PROGRAM MANAGEMENT, VAN NOSTRAND REINHOLD, 1990

 Parallel Plate Capacitor
A

C = K εο A
d
εο = 8.85 x 1012 F/m K = dielectric constant
A = area of plate d = plate separation

This capacitor configuration can be used as a model for the human

body and other objects such as tote boxes, circuit boards, etc.
 Conservation of Charge

Q=CV
(for constant Q,
if C then V and vice-versa)
Voltage Suppression: The reduction in voltage on a charged
object as it approaches ground or some other relatively large
object.

Reduction in voltage is a result of the object's capacitance

increasing.
How Much is Capacitance Changed in
Movement?*
Assume Seated Person with: V = 2 KV, C = 100 pF V=Q/C
Change in Body Typical
Movement
Capacitance Voltage [V]
Raising One Foot (Seated) 15 % Decrease 2352
Raising Both Foot (Seated) 33 % Decrease 2985
Leaning Forward in Chair 4 % Decrease 2083
Standing Up 13 % Decrease 2298
Raising One Foot (Standing) 16 % Decrease 2380
*Donald M. Yenni, Basic Electric Considerations in the Design of a Static Safe Work Environment, 1979 Nepcon/West,
Anaheim, Ca.
Testing For ESD Sensitivity

ESD Models

Human Body Model (HBM)

Machine Model (MM)
Charged Device Model (CDM)
 Human Body Model
Typical ESD Failures
Metal melt
Contact spiking
Metal penetration (silver
filament)
Junction damage
Gate oxide damage
Waveform Specifications
Voltage Ipeak Rise time Decay time Ringing
Level for a short * for a short for a short current
(V) Ip (A) Tr (ns) Td (ns) Ir (A)

500 0.30 - 0.37 2.0 - 10 130 - 170 15% of Ip

1000 0.60 - 0.74 2.0 - 10 130 - 170 15% of Ip
2000 1.20 - 1.48 2.0 - 10 130 - 170 15% of Ip
+ + 4000 2.40 - 2.96 2.0 - 10 130 - 170 15% of Ip

4000** 1.5 - 2.2 5.0 - 25 160 - 240 15% of Ip

* Ipeak is current flowing through R1 that is approximately V/(1500 ohm).
** Values specified for a 500 ohm load. Used only during equipment
qualification as specified.

Circuit represents discharge from a charged person through a device to ground.

Similar requirements are specified by JEDEC JESD22-A114 and test method 3015.7 of
MIL-STD-883D).
 Machine Model
Typical ESD Failures
Metal melt
Contact spiking
Metal penetration (silver
filament)
Junction damage
Gate oxide damage

Waveform Specifications
Voltage Positive Ipeak Positive Current at Maximum Resonance
Level for Ipeak for 100 ns for Ringing Frequency
(V) short, 500 Ohm* 500 Ohm* Current, for Short
Ips1 (A) Ipr (A) I100 (A) IR (A) FR (1/ tfr)
(Mhz)
+ +

100 1.5 - 2.0 N/A N/A Ips1 x 30% 11 - 16

200 2.8 - 3.8 N/A N/A Ips1 x 30% 11 - 16

400 5.8 - 8.0 I100 x 4.5 0.29+/-20% Ips1 x 30% 11 - 16

maximum
* The 500 ohm load is used only during Equipment Qualification as specified.

Circuit represents a more severe Human Body Model. Similar requirements are specified by
JEDEC JESD22-A115).
 Charged Device Model
Typical ESD Failures
Gate Oxide Damage
Junction Damage

CDM WAVEFORM CHARACTERISTICS

Test Number
#1 #2 #3

standard test module Small Small Large

test voltage (V) 500 1000 200
peak current magnitude (A) Ip 4.5 ± 0.5 9±1 3.5 ± 0.5
rise time (ps) tr <400 <400
full width at half height (ns) Td 1.0 ± 0.5 1.0 ± 0.5
undershoot (A, max.) U- <50% Ip <50% Ip
overshoot (A, max.) U+ <25% Ip <25% Ip

Circuit represents a discharge from a triboelectrically charged device to ground,

Similar requirements in JEDEC in JESD22-C101.
 CDM Concerns Involving
Test Equipment
• CDM failures can occur in any equipment that
handles/tests/processes unprotected devices
if the device picks up a charge by:

–Rubbing against an insulator, or

–Rubbing against an ungrounded conductor, or
–Coming in close proximity to a charged surface

And then discharges when it subsequently touches

a grounded metal surface such as an electrical test head.
 CDM Concerns Involving
Test Equipment
(con’t)
• Most equipment manufacturers are not yet designing
their equipment to be CDM resistant. There are no
industry equipment design rules being followed to
minimize CDM problems.

• Therefore, it is up to the user to verify that CDM

problems are not present in any equipment they
use.
How to Make Equipment CDM Resistant
• Equipment should be checked for any insulator
materials which come in close contact with or are
in close proximity (6 inches) to devices as they
pass through the equipment.

If possible, replace the insulators with

static-dissipative materials.
Where not possible, use an antistat or ionization to
neutralize surfaces that generate static charges.
How to Make Equipment CDM Resistant
• Make sure all metal which comes in contact with
devices is grounded. Do not depend on visual
verification, use an ohmmeter. Check all metal in the
path of devices as they move through the equipment.

• Make sure the equipment itself is properly grounded.

• Some devices are much more sensitive to the CDM

failure mechanism than others. So equipment that is
not a problem for some devices could present serious
problems for more sensitive devices.
 Protection Against ESD
ESD Control Items
Wrist Strap - First Line Of Defense
Shall be checked daily.
Wrist straps provide a safe path to ground static
charge build-up on body.
Should fit snug against bare skin.
Should contain integral 1 megohm resistor for
safety.
Do not use wrist strap if live voltages greater
than 240 volts are in immediate area.
 Protection Against ESD
ESD Control Items
Smocks
Should be checked for tribocharging.

ESD-protective finger cots/gloves

Minimize tribocharging and transfer of body
oils to devices during handling.

Work surface mats/hard laminates

Conductive or static dissipative (preferred)
Maintain everything on work surface at same
potential.
 Protection Against ESD
ESD Control Items
Ionizer*
Produces positive and negative ions to
neutralize static charges on insulators.
*Must be checked for proper ion balance

ESD floor/mat
Implemented when wrist straps may be
inconvenient. Must be used with proper
ESD protective footwear/heel straps.
Provides electrical path to ground.
 Protection Against ESD
ESD Control Items
ESD shoes/heel strap
Shall be checked daily.
Shall be worn on both feet.
Used when mobility restricts use of wrist strap.
Must be used with ESD protective floor/mat to
be effective.
Relied upon only at standing operations.
 Protection Against ESD
ESD Control Items
ESD warning signs
Should clearly indicate that this is a
static free workstation.

Hazards
Avoid having any nonessential items at the
workstation - especially insulators
examples: shipping peanuts, plastic
notebooks, plastic/foam cups, tape, plastic
comb/brush, snack wrapper, plastic bags,
computer monitor, plastic picture frame,
cigarette cello, report covers, plastic purses, etc.
 Protection Against ESD

ESD Control Items

Antistatic "Pink Poly" bag
Provides protection against tribocharging but not
against electric fields.

Conductive bag
Provides protection against tribocharging and
electric fields. Should be used as secondary
container.
 Protection Against ESD
ESD Control Items
Static shielding bag
Protect against tribocharging and
electric fields.
Generally a three-layer construction. This
includes a protective outer layer, a conductive
middle layer, and antistatic or static dissipative
inner layer.

Antistatic magazine
Generally a plastic container that is dipped in
topical antistat. Used with static shielding or
conductive packaging.
 Faraday Cage

Charges placed on a conductor move

to the outside surface of the conductor.

Conductive enclosures provide shielding

from electrostatic fields.

This provides the basis of electrostatic

shielding bags.
Antistatic Bag Conductive or Static Shielding Bag
Minimum Requirements For ESD
Protected Areas and workstations
ESD Caution
Sign

• ESD protective work surface.

• Personnel grounding.
Attention
^^^^^^^^^
• ESD caution sign.
^^^^^^ • No non-essential static generators.
• ≤ ± 1000 volts generated by essential
materials, operations, equipment, and
clothing.
• Ionizer * or smock.
• Operations, equipment, clothing shall
be neutralized if > ± 1000V is generated.
• ESD protective flooring or floor mat
required only if personnel or mobile
ESD protective workstations rely on
floor grounding methods.

* If any essential material is an

insulator, an ionizer must be used.

ESD Protected Workstation, EIA-625, Electronic Industry Assoc..,

1994
 ESD Control Instruments
Charged Plate Monitor Fieldmeter

Megohmmeter

Wrist Strap Checker

Continuous Wrist
Strap Monitor
 Summary
• Assume all electronic components and assemblies
are sensitive to ESD damage.

• Never touch a sensitive component or assembly

unless you are properly grounded.

• When ICs are not being processed or handled at an

ESD work station, store them in static shielding container.

• Boards with ICs should only be handled by grounded

operators at an ESD work station.

• Wrist straps, heel straps, and ESD footwear should

be checked daily for compliance to spec limit.
 Summary
• Ground all equipment and machine tracks.

• Keep liquid and gas flows across ICs at

a low velocity.

• Long sleeves should be rolled up or covered

with ESD-protective sleeve protector.

• Do not carry ICs around in an antistatic

magazine with no other protection.

• Point-of-use ionization can be used for

process steps which generate voltage.
 Summary
• Wrist straps maintain personnel at
ground potential.

• ESD protective table tops maintain

devices at ground potential.

• ESD occurs when: there is a difference

in electrostatic potential and:
(1) It is great enough to break down the
dielectric separating the objects or surfaces.
or
(2) If there is contact between these objects.
 Summary

The one solution to prevent any

possibility of an ESD event occurring is to
maintain everything at the same potential.