Influence of cable length between TLP test system and DUT and its correction for CMCESD saturation measurement

Abstract

Focusing on the TLP (transmission line pulse) method used for ESD (electrostatic discharge) saturation measurement described in IEC 62228-5 Annex E, we investigated the validity of its measurement conditions. Since there is no provision for the cable length between a TLP test system and a device under test, we investigated the influence of the cable length on the ESD saturation measurement. The result shows that different voltage and current waveforms in the measurement time window, i.e., different I/V characteristics, can be obtained due to the cable propagation delay. This paper proposes a method to correct the influence of the cable length by using the rising edge of the reflected wave observed at the TLP test system as a trigger for the measurement time window.