Human-metal electrostatic discharge in the IEC, ANSI and MIL standards — Frequency considerations

Simulation of the human-metal electrostatic discharge alters slightly from one to another standard. In consequence setups with different frequency bandwidth are required for calibration of the ESD simulators. The rule of thumb valid for the trapezoidal sequence of pulses (reciprocal of the product of π and rise time) for determining the bandwidth gives the underestimated result. The authors propose another sophisticated rule of thumb. It is crossing point of the power spectral densities (PSD) of the theoretical pulses with noise level of the measurement path. According to this rule, bandwidth required in the IEC standard is wide enough but it is to narrow in the ANSI standard and in consequence in the MIL-STD.Electrostatic discharge (ESD), Frequency domain analysis, Power Spectral Density (PSD).