anti ESD?

[xnihilo]

Hello,

Thank you for all this information.
I'm reading a lot of stuff on the web for 2 days already and I could not find information about the specs of the ESD protection in the PIC16F chips.
I found a good tutorial about ESD at the DIGIKEY website and I guess it will not hurt if I use a PESD5V0LB diode on the only input pin that is in contact with the outside.

My system is a lasergame equipment. there is a wired link between two devices through a single pin. I feel this pin has to be protected against ESD as user may touch the connectors.
I read about the different kinds of protection and I think if I use the bidirectional protection diode as the PESD5V0L1BA it should be fine, it is like Transil or Transzorb.
The specs of the diode are very important and I didn't find all the parameters I have to find.

I run the PIC16F690 at 5V, 8MHz (I need this frequence for PWM, TMR0,...), with a 0.1 ceramic disc capacitor attached between VSS and VDD pins and 47UF electrolytic capacitor between power supply VDD and VSS. I'm also using ground planes.
Should I be using a protection diode rated for 5V? I read that it should be higher or equal to voltage used for the device.

I don't want to rely only on the PIC internal anti-esd protection...

[Pic2008]

Using a 5V protection diode should be fine.Make sure the response time is < 1ns, ESD rating >16kV.