The new standards will be similar in structure to the existing EOS/ESD standards but somewhat different in content, according to Leo G. Henry, cochair of the IDEMA ESD Committee's working group and an ESD/TLP consultant for Barth Electronics Inc. (Boulder City, NV). The standards are expected "to standardize procedures for testing and to set the correlation and benchmarking of products," says Henry.

The project grew from awareness that existing industry ESD standards had been developed to meet the needs of the semiconductor industry, according to Arnie Steinman, an IDEMA ESD Committee member and chief technology officer of Ion Systems (Berkeley, CA). "The disk drive industry has different requirements," says Steinman, "particularly in the area of static control where devices are damaged by much lower levels of ESD."

In various stages of development are 11 standard (STD) or standard practice (SP) proposals, including a packaging standard for disk drives and components that includes materials requirements for the different stages of disk drive manufacture, and a human body model (HBM) document that addresses the issue of testing an MR product for qualification prior to shipping. The committee plans to review the work on HBM testing in September.

Another recent development is the passing of the Handling Practices document, which is awaiting publication. Some progress has also been made in ionization-related work. "The ionization working group is looking at ESD Association document ANSI EOS/ESD S3.1­1995: 'Protection of ESD-Susceptible Items­Ionization' with the intent of [adapting] it to make it more applicable to the needs of disk drive assembly," says Steinman. Industry comments have been solicited.

"We can envision putting out a minimum of one STD or SP per year," says Henry of the committee's longer-term goal. "Standards are proposed and developed as the need arises, so the overall project is a moving target. We have already balloted one standard, 'AMR and GMR Heads: General Practices for ESD Control,'" says Henry. The document establishes procedures and minimum requirements for ESD-control equipment and materials, describing safe handling practices and specifying requirements for controlling electrostatic fields on nonconductors and electrostatic potential levels on personnel.

Changing technology, agrees Steinman, is a critical issue. "The size of the MR head continues to shrink," he says, "and there is every indication that the problems will become more severe as MR technology continues to change. The expertise gained in solving problems for the disk drive industry will be important in other industries, which will see their technology changes causing increased ESD-related problems."

These issues are behind the ESD Committee's goal to develop targeted industry standards. "The widespread use of cellular phones and the growth of electronic systems in automobiles mean that ESD is no longer just a problem for computers," says Steinman. "Generic standards have worked for many years, but the need for specific industry and product-related standards has become apparent. An MR head is not affected by charge in the same way that a 300-mm wafer or a 15-in. flat-panel display is affected."

Several topics for standards development that are in the initial stages and have not been presented to the committee for in-depth discussion include the machine model (MM) ESD event, the charged-device model (CDM) event, and wafer-level testing, according to Henry. "Standards will be driven by product advancement and development," he says. "The challenges are certainly there, but we will address them."

The IDEMA ESD Committee, originally a working-group subcommittee of the IDEMA Heads Committee, held its first meeting on MR ESD issues in November 1998. Meetings are held every six to eight weeks at the IDEMA headquarters in Santa Clara, CA. Annual workshops are held at Diskcon USA, reportedly the world's largest trade show for the data storage industry. Committee members include manufacturers, end-users, vendors, and special-interest groups. For more information on the committee and its standards development project, contact Kristen Montan, standards program manager, at 408/330-8100, or visit IDEMA's Web site at http://www.idema.org

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Keith Armstrong

Martin Vrolijk, chairman of the CENELEC EMC committee TC 210, said in London in May that Amendment prA14 is expected to be approved in early October, and he believes the EC will be quick to publish it in the Official Journal of the European Union, allowing manufacturers to use it beginning early next year. He said he did not expect the enforcing authorities to prosecute manufacturers if they were noncompliant because there will be a delay of a month or so after January 1, 2001, before the new amendment comes into force.

Manufacturers should note, however, that requirements in EN 61000-3-3, which also takes effect in January 2001, could affect products thought to already meet this standard. The UK EMC Test Labs Association heard at its May meeting that most manufacturers and test laboratories were unaware that EN 61000-3-3 will require that switch-on current surges must meet the emissions limits that apply to voltage dips and flicker into the mains.

Most equipment that consumes fairly steady mains current already complies with the standard without the need for further testing, according to Keith Armstrong of Cherry Clough Consultants (Denshaw, UK). However, because most products suffer from switch-on current surges, many products might still need to be tested, including some that were already tested against the standard but not tested for inrush currents at switch-on.

"A possible saving grace is that switch-on current surges for switch-mode supplies are very brief. Although they may take apparently unacceptably high currents of 50 A or more, the way the inrush is measured may make them appear smaller, avoiding the need to redesign to limit switch-on surges," says Armstrong.

The E10 EMC Club, one of the original UK EMC clubs formed in the early 1990s, has been relaunched as the Compliance Association, with an expanded scope that includes all directives and regulatory issues affecting electrical and electronic equipment compliance.

Administration is being managed by Radio Frequency Investigation (RFI) Ltd. (Basingstoke, Hamps, UK), with a steering committee of recognized experts in the field.

To complete an on-line membership form, visit the association's Web site at http://www.rfi.co.uk/compliance.

Boldt Metronics International (BMI) Inc. (Palatine, IL), a provider of metal electronic components, EMI/RFI shielding, and other technologies for the electronics industry, has announced its expansion to a 161,000-sq-ft manufacturing facility in Schaumburg, IL. According to Mel Boldt, BMI founder and CEO, the expansion will provide "a greater production capacity and the ability to more effectively handle customer requests with shorter lead times." The company plans to maintain the Palatine facility.

For more information, contact BMI at 847/934-4700 or visit the firm's Web site at http://www.bmiinc.com.

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An incorrect reference to synthetic aperture radar assessment was introduced into Barry Cartman's article, "The R&TTE Directive: A Year of Transition" (2000 Annual Reference Guide, page 218). The sentence should have read: "The removal of the voltage limit on the LVD also has significance for radio terminals, because it means that handheld devices will be subject to safe radiation limits, providing the need for specific absorption rate (SAR) assessment of mobile handsets, which was missing under the earlier directive."

Some copy was omitted from Figure 3 of Geoffrey Peckham's article, "The Product Safety Label: A Critical Component of Compliance" (2000 Annual Reference Guide, page 261). The corrected Figure 3 is shown here.

Figure 3. A typical three-panel ANSI Z535.4 product-safety sign.