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I was just told that capacitors are not ESD sensitive. This does not make any sense to me, since it should be possible to break through the insulating layers in the capacitor plates. Can you refer me to any studies that have looked at the effect of ESD on capacitors? - Anonymous, Quincy, IL

In general, ceramic and some high energy electrolytic discrete capacitors may not be very ESD sensitive at lower voltages, since they operate by storing various amounts of energies (charges). Very low voltage capacitors and semiconductor capacitors (capacitors on a chip) may in fact be somewhat ESD sensitive. There are varying degrees of classes of ESD sensitivities, depending on the model used. Capacitors may fall into the lower sensitive range, check with the manufacturer or VZAP data book for ESD sensitivities.

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