September 2013

As early as 1985, the author recalls re-occurring discussions of the effects of puncture holes from component leads and stapling of static shielding bags.

In July 2013, the ESD Experts page on LinkedIn® started a discussion by a USA computer manufacturing company that generated participation from end users, suppliers and consultants both here and abroad. In years past, some held opinions that pin holes do not greatly affect static shielding of metallized bags. There is, however, minimal published data to fall back upon regarding this subject matter.

Asymmetric filter designs are gaining popularity in industry because of their lower cost and size, however, although this design is successful in eliminating common mode signal issues this paper will show that for certain applications such as TEMPEST these filters offer little to no protection. Symmetric filters, although physically larger and more costly due to the use of more components, provide better filtering in these applications.