Controlling contamination resulting from Electrostatic discharge is crucial in all electronic manufacturing processes.

This is because dust and other small particles can lead to a range of costly and even dangerous issues; from product performance degradation and catastrophic failure, to causing fires and even explosions within flammable environments.

Dust gets into and clogs small spaces, subsequently restricting air flow and trapping heat, leading to component degradation.

Repeated friction and separation (from feeder bowl vibrations) charges Electronic components with static electricity. As a result, the charged components then cannot be transferred properly due to the components clinging to the bowl or chute.

A static charge is an electrical charge at rest on an object. As it builds, it looks for somewhere to discharge, which can result in two types of failure:

1. Catastrophic failure: This occurs when an ESD event immediately renders the part or component useless. A catastrophic failure requires complete replacement of the damaged component before further work can be carried out.

2. Upset failure: This occurs when an ESD has caused a current flow that is not powerful enough to cause complete failure, but strong enough to cause intermittent gate leakage, resulting in malfunction and degrading performance.

Sensitive electronic components (such as integrated circuits and diodes) are particularly susceptible to static electricity, but as electronic technology advances and the components get progressively smaller in size, the circuitry within them gets smaller too, which increases their sensitivity to ESD.

Shocks from Induced Charge:

If the operator is handling materials that are charged, the charge will build up in the body because of their insulative shoes. This build up stays in the body until the operator touches an earthed part of the machinery, when the charge will instantly transfer to the earth and result in a shock.

Shocks from the Product:

Metal objects within an electrical field that are not connected to earth can become induction charged, and as the metal part is conductive, the will be mobile and will discharge when touched by the operator. 

ESD occurs when two objects with different electrical charges make contact with each other. When this happens, the charge transfers from one object to the other causing a spark, which can be powerful enough to ignite and set fire to nearby materials, and in some cases, explosions.

It is estimated that the electronics industry incurs approximately £40 billion in losses each year due to ESD damage alone.