ESD Sensitivity of electronic devices

As the human body was originally the most common and damaging source of electrostatic discharge, the most common measurement of ESD sensitivity is by Human Body Model (HBM) electrostatic discharge. In this test a charged 100pF capacitor is discharged into the device via a 1500W resistor. The 100pF capacitor simulates charged stored on the average human body, and the resistor simulates the resistance of the human body and skin. 61340-5-1, if fully implemented, aims to protect devices down to 100V HBM sensitivity. 

The ESD sensitivity of devices is given as an "ESD withstand voltage", which is the maximum test voltage at which the device did not suffer damage. Typical HBM withstand voltages of various device technologies are given in the following table. 

As component technology progresses, internal device sizes reduce and become more ESD sensitive. Many modern components are protected by on-chip protection circuits, without which they would be extremely sensitive. In most cases the design goal is to increase the device ESD withstand voltage to 2 kV. In some cases this goal cannot be met for various reasons - there is often a tradeoff between ESD protection and device performance.