I knew that comment would get someone to jump in Dave ;-) IMX it is much, much harder to damage a diode, even a Schottky, than most MOSFET/FET devices. Also I agree that some RF bipolars, particularly those using the "planar" process that puts a crazy number of bipolar transistors in parallel on the same substrate, can be very touchy.
I was trying to differentiate the really sensitive stuff from the relatively insensitive stuff such has most audio/power bipolars and common diodes. If the part comes in ESD packaging, it's smart to treat it as ESD sensitive. Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- That's a bit of a careless generalization. Almost any RF bipolar transistor or RF bipolar IC can be rather easily damaged by ESD .... they typically have very shallow junctions and require very little current to puncture in the reverse bias direction. Almost any small signal Schottky diode or IC with Schottky diode clamps can be easily damaged by ESD. I know ... I used to manage a large enterprise that manufactured them. Dave AB7E ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
