Is your ESD sensitive parts/components supplier certified to ANSI/ESD S20.20?

Companies that are aware of the importance of continuously providing good quality products to their customers would see ANSI/ESD S20.20 certification as another must have certification besides the common ISO 9001 certification or other QMS certification such as TS16949, ISO13485, AS9100 etc.

About ANSI/ESD S20.20

Standard for the development of an ESD Control Program for the protection of Electrical and Electronic Parts, Assemblies and Equipment. (Excluding electrically initiated explosive devices)

The requirements in ANSI/ESD S20.20 standard are applicable to all activities that manufacture, process, assemble, install, package, label, service, test, inspect or otherwise handle electrical or electronic parts, assemblies and equipments susceptible to esd damage.

As of today, about 140 companies worldwide are certified to ANSI/ESD S20.20 standard. Most of these companies are either one of the following providers:

• Electronic manufacturing service provider
• Electronic components, semiconductor and computer products distributor
• Electronic product manufacturer
• Electronic system manufacturer/supplier
• Electronic and Semiconductor testing facility

These companies are either direct or indirect end customer for companies involving in the semiconductor chips manufacturing (wafer fabrication) and semiconductor chips assembly and testing.

Only a handful of ANSI/ESD S20.20 certified facilities are from semiconductor chips manufacturing (wafer fabrication) and semiconductor chips assembly and testing.

Is your ESD sensitive parts/components supplier certified to ANSI/ESD S20.20?
If the answer is NO, then, it is the company’s responsibility to initiate an action plan to ensure all his ESDS parts/components supplier certified to ANSI/ESD S20.20.



Benefits of ANSI/ESD S20.20 certification

• Sustain effectiveness of current ESD Control program
• Improve product yield
• Enhance customer confidence and satisfaction
• Create a competitive advantage and increase company’s marketability


This is it. ANSI/ESD S20.20 standard certification is the way for continuously improve the reliability and quality of ESDS parts/components.

ESD and EOS failure identification on semiconductor devices without Failure Analysis?

Is it possible to distinguish between damage due to ESD and damage due to EOS on failed semiconductor devices from the field without performing Failure Analysis (FA) on them?

The answer is YES and NO.

It is YES when you can visually see the following damage on the mold compound of the semiconductor device.
• Physical hole on the mold compound
• Cracked package
• Burnt/discolored mold compound

EOS event takes excessive current and a longer duration to cause visual damage on the mold compound of semiconductor device.

Without the physical damage, it is literally impossible to distinguish between damage due to ESD and damage due to EOS.

To be able to analyze the actual cause of failure, FA is required.
FA lab can be set up with a minimum cost involved.

A typical high school FA Lab will have the following:
• Low power and High power microscope with digital camera
• Curve tracer
• Basic decapping tools ( chemical decapsulation and mechanical decapping tools )

With the high school FA lab facility, EOS failure modes can be further seen.
• Carbonized mold compound
• Wire fuse open
• Metallization fuse open

ESD failure modes can only be identified through a more advanced FA tool.

ESD: Failure Mechanism and Models will provide ESD Engineers and ESD Coordinators the comprehensive knowledge on ESD failure modes and mechanism that will help in distinguishing damage due to ESD and damage due to EOS.

How to simplify your current ESD Control system?

Does your organization involve in manufacturing, assembling, testing, reworking or packaging of ESD sensitive items?

If the answer is yes, then you definitely already have some kind of ESD control system in place in your organization.

If the ESD control system is not yet available, then you need to set up an ESD control system for your organization.

ANSI/ESD S20.20 / IEC 61340-5-1

The availability of ANSI/ESD S20.20 or IEC 61340-5-1 standard has made the task of setting up of an ESD control system easy.

The requirements have been systematically laid out in the ESD industry standards and you just need to implement all those requirements.

ANSI/ESD S20.20 standard can be obtained for FREE from esda.org. This standard is widely practiced by most organizations in the world except those in Europe where IEC 61340-5-1 standard is practiced.

Both standards almost have the same requirements. You can use either standard; it all depends on your customer’s requirement or your organization’s policy.

Implementing the standard will help to simplify your job in setting up the ESD control system for your organization.

You can also help your organization to become certified to ANSI/ESD S20.20/ IEC 61340-5-1. For more info on facility certification, visit S20.20 Accredited Certification Bodies.


Automate and Control

Further simplification on your current ESD control system can be done through automation work.

Why do you need to go for ESD automation?

There are many benefits that you can get if you automate your current ESD monitoring process. Some of the benefits are:

• Process consistency
• Less product failures
• Less customer complaints
• More customers


If you are still wondering how to automate your ESD process, go and get FREE ESD e-book “Automate and Control” for ideas.