Study on electrostatic discharge (ESD) characteristics of ultra-thin dielectric film

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) event usually destroys the electrical properties of dielectric films, resulting in product failure. In this work, the breakdown characteristic of machine mode (MM) ESD on three different nano size films of head gimble assemble are obtained experimentally. The breakdown voltage and thickness parameters show a positive proportional relationship, but they are generally very low and have large discrete characteristics (~30%). The maximum and minimum breakdown voltages of the tested samples are 1.08 V and 0.46 V, which are far lower than the requirement of the current standard (25 V). In addition, the judgment criterion of product damage is given, and the relationship between discharge voltage polarity, initial resistance and breakdown voltage is studied. Finally, the theoretical analysis of the breakdown characteristic law has been given.