What is the most common and costly type of ESD damage?

Answer 1

Oxid failure is the most common type of ESD damage. When the voltage across a dielectric region excesses its dielectric tolerances, the result is a puncture of the dielectric. Once the dielectric has been punctured, small amount energy will be enough to create a short circuit. A device, after dielectric breakdown, will usually exhibit lower breakdown voltage, increased, leakage current and increased noise but not a catastrophic failure