Constant charge and constant potential models for electrostatic discharge and the human body

Real electrostatic discharge (ESD) events are charge-driven phenomena. System capacitance coefficients and body potentials change as a charged body approaches another body; a discharge occurs when the electric field between the bodies exceeds the critical breakdown value. Test methods used to simulate ESD are voltage driven; both air discharge and direct current injection methods are specified in terms of the potential applied to the probe of the simulator. In this paper, the results of an analysis of constant charge and constant potential models for ESD involving the human body and another body are presented. The interpretation of the results provide a better understanding of ESD test methods and their use in the simulation of real ESD events.