FAQ Category: ESD Terminology

Corriplast

Also known as Conductive Correx®, Conductive Corriplast® protects the item inside the packaging from static charges. Conductive Corriplast® is a robust ESD Safe material – made from a corrugated plastic board – that is perfect for use in cleanroom, medical and laboratory applications and / or where static protection is also required. The Polypropylene / Ethylene copolymers […]

Corstat

A carbon based coating applied to corrugated cardboard which is then used for anti-static packaging solutions. Corstat packaging comes in all sorts of forms, including bins, boxes, totes, dividers, and other inserts. It is known as the ESD industry standard for conductive packaging.  The Corstat coated cardboard provides a “Faraday cage” that channels static around […]

Ohm

Ohm is a unit of resistance. Symbolised by the Greek capital letter omega (Ω). It is defined as the resistance, at 0o C, of a uniform column of mercury weighing 14.451 grams. One ohm is the value of resistance through which a potential difference of one volt will maintain a current of one ampere.

Process-essential insulator

A process-essential insulator is necessary to build or assemble the finished product. When grounding of these is not possible, choosing a method to neutralise electrostatic charge is necessary. This can be achieved with ionisation. Examples of a process-essential insulator include: product plastic housing or PC board substrate.

Catastrophic failure

When an electronic device is exposed to an ESD event it may have caused a metal melt, junction failure or oxide breakdown, permanently damaging its circuitry and resulting in catastrophic failure. Such failure can usually be detected when the device is tested before shipping. If the ESD event occurs after the test the damage will […]

Zap

In layman’s terms, the term “zap” refers to an electrical discharge or electrostatic discharge (ESD). A “zap” can occur when touching a filling cabinet, getting out of a car or walking across a carpet and touching a door handle.

ESD protective symbol

The ESD Protective Symbol, consists of the reaching hand in the triangle. An arc around the triangle replaces the slash. This “umbrella” means protection. The symbol indicates ESD protective material. It is applied to ESD furniture, mats, chairs, wrist straps, garments, packaging, and other items that provide ESD protection. It also may be used on […]

ESD susceptibility symbol

The ESD Susceptibility Symbol, consists of a triangle, a reaching hand, and a slash through the reaching hand. The triangle means “caution” and the slash through the reaching hand means “Don’t touch.” Because of its broad usage, the hand in the triangle has become associated with ESD and the symbol literally translates to “ESD sensitive […]

Tribocharge

Tribocharge, otherwise known as triboelectric charge or tribocharging, is the generation of electrostatic charges by the rubbing or separating of surfaces. The molecules in the two materials interact, forming an electrical bond. Separating the materials creates friction. This frictional force draws electrons away from one material and deposits an excess of electrons on the other, […]

Surface resistivity

Not to be confused with surface resistance, surface resistivity is a measurement of a material’s inherent electrical resistance. For electric current flowing across a surface, the ratio of DC voltage drop per unit length to the surface current per unit width. In effect, the surface resistivity is the resistance between two opposite sides of a […]