Scope maintains ESD protection

The Lynx ESD offers all of the advantages of eyepieceless microscopy but with superior ESD protection for static sensitive components.

Based on the successful Lynx microscope which already provides against static, the Lynx ESD offers all of the advantages of eyepieceless microscopy but with superior ESD protection for static sensitive components.

The continual trend towards miniaturisation of electronic components means that manufacturers are finding it increasingly important to ensure that their production and inspection procedures cannot create damaging static charges.

When viewing a delicate microelectronic part, the inspection equipment must not generate a static charge, or allow an operator to discharge any static electricity through the component.

To achieve this, the instrument needs to be sufficiently conductive/dissipative to prevent charge generation or storage and to control any possible discharge to a "static safe" level.

The external mouldings for the Lynx ESD are manufactured from a plastic polymer containing carbon powder.

This ensures that any electrostatic charge generated by sliding or rubbing (tribocharging) is conducted towards ground rather than being allowed to accumulate.

Antistatic cleaning fluids have been used in the past on test and measurement equipment, to provide protection from ESD.

Although meeting the basic requirements of ESD protection, these fluids must be regularly applied in order to give a safe level of protection.

This will involve a preventive maintenance schedule, which, if ignored, may render the instrument a risk to static sensitive components.

The Lynx ESD maintains its "static safe" condition without the need for further maintenance.

Because the carbon powder is integrated within the plastic, even surface scratches will not affect its ESD performance.

The only plastic component within the instrument that is not manufactured from carbon filled plastic is the glare shield.

To maintain transparency, this has a permanent conductive surface coating to ensure ESD protection.

Lynx ESD has been designed to meet the exacting requirements of the electronics industry.

The assembled unit has been rigorously tested by an independent test house to be traceably certified to conform to BS IEC61340-5-1.

The standard Lynx microscope is already used throughout the electronics industry for a range of visual inspection tasks.

Using Vision Engineering's unique expanded pupil technology, Lynx allows a much greater freedom of operator head movement than conventional microscopes.

Expanding the image leaving the eyepieces results in a four-fold increase in working distance between the operator's eyes and the Lynx viewing head.

Critically, this increased distance permits users who require corrected vision to continue to wear prescription spectacles or contact lenses while using the microscope.

The large depth of field (the area in focus to the operator) provided by Lynx means that electronic components can be inspected with a bright, well contrasted image even when there is some variation in the height of the subject.

In addition, an oblique viewing option allows components to be viewed from various rotated angles, offering inspection all the way around a component.

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