A FDTD Analysis of Electromagnetic Fields Caused by Electrostatic Discharge between Metals with Ferrite Material Attachments

Abstract

The transient electromagnetic fields due to electrostatic discharge (ESD) between charged metals have wide-band frequency spectra up to the microwave region, which give a serious malfunction to high-tech information devices. For the above ESD fields, we previously analyzed them, using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, and showed that the metals enhance the field level according to the metal dimension. From the standpoint of reducing such the ESD fields, the electromagnetic fields caused by the spark between the metals with ferrite core attachments were investigated. The FDTD method was also used to compute the ESD fields. A FDTD algorithm for the magnetic field inside the ferrite core was newly derived. The results show that the cores attached near the spark gap considerably reduce the magnetic field level, which is also confirmed experimentally.