Mystery Widget

If you visited our booth at the EOS/ESD Symposium in Orlando at the end of September, most likely you left with the Mystery Widget in your hand and now you want to know how it REALLY works.

Contrary to the first impression, Mystery Widget is not a precision NIST-traceable calibrated instrument suitable for cleanroom operation. It is more of a high-school science project pedigree. You can even build it yourself according to the schematic on the left. It simply shows that at the bottom of every complex device is a simple physics foundation.

Mystery Widget contains N-channel J-FET whose channel is normally conductive. The current lights up the LED. When a negatively charged object is brought close to the antenna, i.e. the gate of the FET, induced negative voltage shuts down the FET and the LED turns off.

Now pick the Mystery Widget by its antenna. The LED will turn off. If you bring the negatively charged object to the widget now, the LED will turn On.

Why? Well, there are mysteries in life and this widget is one of them. However, if you have an inquisitive mind, pick a high-school Physics textbook, or if you are completely desperate, call us at 831-459-7488 or drop us a line -- we will interpret the Widget for you.

Solutions

Products

Application Notes

 ESD Audit and Survey
ESD Monitoring in Production
ESD Protection against Equipment Malfunction

EM Eye ESD Event Meter
Aware ESD Event Monitors
Antenna Kit for ESD Audit
EMAlert Protection Modules
ScanEM Probes for ESD Audit and Survey

Measurements of ESD Events

Watch this space for the upcoming Application Notes