On system modeling of ESD penetration of a general two-layer plate

The electrostatic discharge (ESD) penetration process is considered in systems terms; the ESD source acts as the input to the enclosure; which is the system. The system is characterized by the application of the generalized wave equation to a multilayer plate. It is shown that the generalized wave equation reduces to a vector diffusion equation for conductive enclosures, but that both its wave and diffusion parts must be considered for enclosure containing dielectric layers. The advantages of the systems approach are discussed. It is shown that the system input can, without loss of generality, be considered an impulse. The impulse response can be obtained by the inverse fast Fourier transform (FFT) of the steady-state frequency response, which itself can be determined using harmonic analysis.<>