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Electrostatic
Discharge (ESD)
It's Costly
and It can Kill Profits
By Oleh Artym
ESD is an important
concept to understand, when it comes to the care and handling of
expensive electronic devices. We have all seen static electricity
in the form of lightning or perhaps felt the zap when reaching for
a door knob. Similar types of electrical charges can have an effect
on the electronic components in every day production and warehousing.
Unfortunately, their effect is much more hazardous and not as readily
apparent. Static electricity is an electrical charge at rest. Static
electricity is most commonly created by friction and separation.
Friction causes heat, which excites the molecular particles of the
material. When two materials are then separated, a transfer of electrons
from one material to the other may take place.
Because electrons
transfer, the absence or surplus of electrons creates an electrical
field known as static electricity. The amount of static electricity
generated depends upon the materials subjected to friction or separation,
the amount of friction or separation and the relative humidity of
the environment. Common plastic generally will create the greatest
static charge. Low humidity conditions such as those created when
air is heated during the winter will also promote the generation
of significant static electrical charges.
Materials that
easily transfer electrons (or charge) between atoms are called conductors
and are said to have free electrons. Some examples of
conductors are metals, carbon and VpCI®foam and Cortec ESD films.
Materials that do not easily transfer electrons are called insulators,
they include glass and air. Both conductors and insulators can be
charged with static electricity. When a conductor is
charged, the free electrons give it the ability to discharge rapidly
when it comes close to another conductor with a different potential.
Many of the common activities you perform daily may generate charges
on your body that are potentially harmful to components, for example:
Walking across a carpet, 1,500 to 35,000 volts; Walking over untreated
vinyl floor, 250 to 12,000 volts; Worker at a bench, 700 to 6,000
volts; Picking up a common plastic bag from a bench, 1,200 to 20,000
volts.
It's important
to recognize that Cortec 130 series foam products and Cortec ESD
films were designed to protect electronics from the devastating
effects of ESD. Our VpCI® products not only protect from ESD
but also from corrosion. Nobody else offers this 1-2 punch.
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