Littelfuse offers three distinct product families that can be used for ESD suppression. These include the electroceramic MLVs (MultiLayer Varistors), silicon SPA™ TVS Diode Arrays and polymer-based PulseGuard® ESD suppressor products. Each family has attributes that differentiate it from the other technologies, but, in general, they are all effective solutions for ESD suppression.
SPA™ TVS Diode Arrays
Littelfuse Silicon Transient Voltage Suppression (TVS) Diode technology offers a high level of protection (up to 30kV per IEC 61000-4-2) with low capacitance, leakage current and clamp voltage. In addition to a single line 0402 device, high-density arrays are available for up to 18 lines including power rail protection. For more robust applications, silicon devices are available for EFT and Lightning threats per IEC-61000-4-4/5. Littelfuse also offers devices designed for USB protection that integrate TVS Diodes and EMI/RFI filtering into a single device. Click for product selection
Multilayer Varistors (MLVs)
Littelfuse multilayer varistors (MLVs) provide board level protection against ESD, EFT, and other transients that occur on power supply, signal and control lines. Single and multiple line devices are available in popular industry standard outlines with a variety of termination options including lead-free Nickel Barrier for improved soldering characteristics. MLVs can also be chosen for low band-pass filtering characteristics so that they provide ESD protection and filter high frequency noise from the circuit. Click for product selection
PulseGuard® Polymer ESD Suppressors
PulseGuard ESD Suppressors help protect sensitive electronic equipment against electrostatic discharge (ESD). They supplement the on-chip protection of integrated circuitry and are best suited for low voltage, high-speed applications where low capacitance is important. Data ports utilizing such high-speed protocols as USB 2.0, IEEE1394, HDMI and DVI can benefit from this new technology. PulseGuard suppressors use polymer composite materials to suppress fast-rising ESD transients (as specified in IEC 61000-4-2 and MIL-STD-883E), while adding virtually no capacitance to the circuit. Click for product selection
The documents below explain each ESD suppression technology in further detail.
EC622A - ESD Suppression Technologies
ec622a.pdf (1.7 Mb)