ESD source modeling in FDTD

Abstract

Numerical modeling of the ESD event using the finite difference time domain (FDTD) technique is considered. Two methods of modeling an electrostatic discharge using FDTD are compared. The first consists of introducing the fields into the mesh from known analytic results in a region of the mesh which is homogeneous and letting the fields propagate towards the interaction of interest. The second consists of modeling the discharge current directly by discretizing the current density term in the Maxwell equations. The second offers obvious advantages in that the discharge can be modeled close to inhomogeneities such as circuit board traces and chip leads.<>