Characterization and Full-Wave Modeling of Corona Discharge Induced Coupling to Touchscreen Displays
Abstract
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) to the glass of a touchscreen display can damage capacitive touch sensor circuitry and traces. The ESD creates a sparkless corona discharge on the glass surface, which couples to sense patches on the other side of the glass. Currents induced on sense traces during the corona discharge are measured in an evaluation setup, which resembles the touchscreen design. Waveforms for current induced at different distances from the discharge position are recorded and compared. The induced currents are analyzed by their peak value and the total charge or energy delivered to the sense trace for different discharge polarities and voltage levels and for 20 different touchscreen configurations. Trends in the dissipated energy were found as a function of the glass thickness, the capacitance from the sense patch to reference ground, and the resistance of the sense trace. A simulation model to estimate coupling to touchscreen circuitry was developed by representing the ionized corona as concentric rings on the glass surface centered at the discharge location. Using a circuit model and data measured experimentally, the current source waveforms for different rings can be found and used in full-wave simulations to excite the rings and predict the current coupled to the sensor patches. This methodology can be used for a variety of touchscreen designs that are similar to those measured to explore the impact of design changes on ESD immunity.
Recommended Citation
Z. Peng and S. Marathe and J. Meiguni and A. Foudazi and J. Zhou and L. Shen and V. Pilla and C. W. Lam and D. Kim and D. Pommerenke and D. G. Beetner, "Characterization and Full-Wave Modeling of Corona Discharge Induced Coupling to Touchscreen Displays," IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Jan 2025.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1109/TEMC.2025.3626743
Department(s)
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Publication Status
Early Access
Keywords and Phrases
Air discharge; corona discharge; electrostatic discharge (ESD); human metal model (HMM); touchscreen display
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
1558-187X; 0018-9375
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2025 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jan 2025
Comments
National Science Foundation, Grant IIP-1916535