scope:

This document applies to electrical components such as integrated circuits, protection elements, or filters with pins that will be directly connected to external ports of a system and may be subjected to a system level type ESD stress waveform.

PURPOSE

This document establishes a test method for stressing pins of electrical components that will be connected to external ports of a system to provide a figure of merit (the onset of physical damage) for survivability of the tested pin from electrically inducted physical damage due to electrostatic discharge events (ESD) events. The HMM test method has had mixed results in terms of repeatability and reproducibility. It is strongly recommended to read the Foreword to this document to get a better understanding of the limitations of this test method.

NOTE: HMM can be thought of as a worst-case application of a system level ESD pulse to a pin of a DUT, in the sense that the full discharge is assumed to flow though the DUT pin to a low-ohmically connected ground.

NOTE: Component testing to this procedure cannot predict the full range of failure signatures during system level testing according to IEC 61000-4-2, only electrically induced physical damage.