What is ESD?

ESD stands for ElectroStatic Discharge.

Static electricity is an everyday phenomenon - there can be few of us who have not experienced a static shock after walking across a room and touching the door knob, or on getting out of a car.

Other static nuisance effects include the cling of some fabrics to the body, the sticking of a plastic document cover, or the attraction of dust to a TV or computer screen.

While we can feel some of these effects, static electricity is normally present at lower levels that we cannot feel, hear or see, but may nevertheless damage sensitive electronic components. It can build up rapidly on objects, in unexpected ways, to produce surprisingly high voltages.

If two objects that have different voltages approach each other closely enough, charge may pass from one object to the other in a fast electrostatic discharge. While this only lasts a microsecond or less, the peak discharge current can be several Amps and the peak power can be in the kiloWatt range!