Circuit and process design considerations for ESD protection in advanced CMOS processes

This paper reviews many of the important issues for building ESD protection with NMOS transistors containing silicided diffusions and lightly doped drain junctions. The impact of device process parameters, such as gate length, side-wall spacer and silicided, graded junctions, on NMOS ESD performance are discussed. More recent process advances, such as LATID and halo implants, are also reviewed. Several varieties of circuits for triggering NMOS protection transistors under ESD conditions are covered.