Can ESD damage the RF components like attenuators, DC blocks and connectors ?  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / rf-microwave

author: electronic_guy
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2021, 02:04:28 pm
content: Hi,I'm wondering if ESD can damage the passive components like attenuators, DC blocks and RF series connectors during normal handling without ESD precaustions.

author: ZigmundRat
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2021, 02:35:15 pm
content: I think the short answer is ‘yes’ (excepting the connectors). Passives such as resistors and capacitors can certainly be damaged by ESD or EOS (Electrical Over Stress). Smaller components, thin film construction, and lower voltage tolerance contribute more to this than with components in days of old. In real life, I don’t know how much it’s (ESD damage of passives) an issue for the hobbyist. Practicing ESD safe handling can’t hurt though.The subject is complicated (and I am not an expert - only peripherally involved in a previous role). There are different ESD source models used (Human Body Model? Machine Model?) and they each have different capacitance, resistance values etc. which impact the charge delivered to the components. This subject is a whole engineering discipline to itself - perhaps a professional will weigh in with a more insightful answer.

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2021, 08:21:49 pm
content: Quote from: electronic_guy on May 09, 2021, 02:04:28 pmSure it can. Lightning has hit two trees on our property and the damage has been fairly extensive.

author: Feynman
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2021, 05:49:43 pm
content: "RF components" is very general, so basically "yes". If your DC block is just a capacitor you'll probably need a lot of energy to damage it. However, anything that has a resistor in it, could be susceptible to ESD (depending of the resistor type, of course). And some RF filters with their tiny structures areextremelysensitive to ESD.

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2021, 08:40:42 pm
content: Active components are usually the ones that get damaged by RF. Meaning gain components, like MMICS. Especially front ends.Passive components are much more robust. But still they all have limits.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2021, 10:56:06 pm
content: the higher the frequency the smaller the part the more susceptible it is to damage

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2021, 11:06:05 pm
content: It's similar to poison where it's all a matter of dosage. You can damage any component with a sufficiently powerful discharge. Generally speaking though you don't have to handle this sort of stuff the way you do delicate early CMOS ICs. You're not going to damage an RF attenuator by handling it on a dry winter day without wearing a wrist strap.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2021, 11:29:30 pm
content: thats usually because the center conductor is well hidden! the parts in those are tiny. you can easily damage a 0402 resistor with ESDThose are kind of hard to damage unless you have power/ground pins for soldering connections to the can, but the RF stuff, you would need to really try to discharge on that. but with how finicky those ultra low noise regulators seem to be, you might want to be careful.But those also are built for some watts usually, a high power level one is harder to damage.But usually the center pin is recessed in the coaxial connector, so you cannot discharge to it. The pathway to damage will be the antenna, if you are careful handling the antenna you will be fine.I assume this is what you mean, because normally a DC block is a small can you attach to your signal chain.

author: TheMG
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2021, 02:34:30 am
content: Can't say I've ever heard of RF connectors and attenuators (passive) being damaged by ESD (at least not ESD from a person's hands).It's not like semiconductor devices, particularly MOS, where ESD can easily break down the microscopically thin layers.Passive attenuators can actually handle pulse power several times their continuous power rating to begin with. Add to that the fact that most are low impedance (50 ohms) devices from DC to some very high frequency, compared to the relatively high impedance of your body in delivering the ESD discharge, the chances of causing a breakdown in a passive attenuator with just human body ESD is very very unlikely.Connectors even less so. Even if the ESD is enough to arc from the center conductor to the outer conductor, there just isn't enough energy to cause actual damage (heat damage, carbon tracking across dielectric part).

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2021, 05:55:06 am
content: lets not get creative trying to touch the center pin and never find out

author: TheMG
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2021, 04:38:59 pm
content: Not all RF attenuators are coaxial. There are many of the SMT and flange-mount varieties too.

author: Joel_Dunsmore
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 17, 2021, 01:53:28 am
content: RF and microwave attenuators are made from thin-film tantalum nitride resist patches on between two gold pads. Many years ago I did the testing for HP to determine the ESD damage level, and interestingly enough it was on the order 1-2K volts (standard ESD model) but the degradation was slow. Each ESD hit would arc across the resistor and take a little bit of gold with it. Eventually enough gold was gone that the resistance changed at the terminal. After that investigation, we put little spark-gaps in gold to act like a sacrificial electrode, but only so much we could do because we have to maintain RF performance. The spark-gaps don't resolve the problem, but like the sacrificial rod in your water heater tank, it slows down the progression of damage. DC blocks not as much, and connectors almost not at all.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 17, 2021, 03:52:47 am
content: thank you, I was about to see what a BBQ starter does a 3db microwave pad but I might hold off, its very wasteful with all the delays and difficulties in acquisition going on right now, destructive testing is a little depressing

author: TheUnnamedNewbie
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 20, 2021, 07:10:55 am
content: I guess it would also depend on what device you are dealing with. I would imagine a 5 kW 3dB attenuator for 1 GHz would be far less susceptible to ESD damage than a 110 GHz 1mm connector attenuator...