Measurements of characteristics of electromagnetic radiation caused by electrostatic discharges in metal sphere gap at voltages less than 1 kV

In this study, the characteristics of Electromagnetic (EM) radiation caused by Electrostatic Discharges (ESDs) from metal spheres charged to voltages less than 1 kV are examined experimentally. Our experimental system consists of a pair of spherical electrodes of different diameters, a 1-18 GHz-band-width horn antenna and a 20-GHz-bandwidth digitizing oscilloscope. Polarization, waveform duration and peaks of antenna-received voltages from the EM field radiation are measured in order to clarify the EM radiation mechanism. The ratio of the received voltages between the antenna arrangements of the field polarization parallel and perpendicular to the spark pass is 18 to 20 dB. The polarities of the antenna-received voltages are the same as those of the charge voltages across the gap. Moreover, the waveform duration and the first peaks increase with an increase in the diameters of the spherical electrodes. Consequently, we find that the polarization, waveform duration and first peaks of the EM field radiation can be explained by a dipole antenna structure, which makes the spark part of the spherical electrodes a feeding point on the straight line passing through the centres of the two spheres.