What is ESD protection?

[LauraCx]

What is ESD protection?

0. Summary

This article answers some Frequently Asked Questions about ESD and how to create an ESD safe design. 
 

1. What is ESD protection?

ESD stands for electrostatic discharge. ESD is defined by the ESD association as "the rapid, spontaneous transfer of electrostatic charge induced by a high electrostatic field".
It is the result of static electricity discharge. Static electricity is the collection of electrically charged particles on the surface of a material.
Various materials have a tendency of either:
• Giving up electrons and gaining positive (+) charges
• Attracting electrons and gaining negative (-) charges
Electrostatic discharge will cause potential failure on the integrated circuits of your PCB.
These failures are called electrical over stress (EOS), resulting in silicon melting, oxide punch-through, junction damage, metallization damage or degradation affecting the long-term reliability of your electronic system.
A survey from the EOS industry council shows that 30% of customer claims are due to ESD or EOS (electrical over stress).
 

2. Where can I get more information about eye diagram integrity?

Eye diagram information is defined by standards like USB, HDMI etc. The ESD protection device compliancy with eye diagram is specified in the related datasheet, for example in HSP051-4M10 .
 

3. Which ST specific part do you recommend to protect the RF port of a
transceiver working at 868 MHz with 14 dBm output power? (it must have very low capacitance and low clamping voltage)

14 dBm corresponds to 1.6 V max on 50 Ω load. ESDARF02-1BU2CK matches the requirement at 868 MHz (no RF losses, VMAX < VRM and bi-directional for RF signaling).