Failure mechanisms of discrete protection device subjected to repetitive electrostatic discharges (ESD)

High reliability electronic devices need to sustain thousands of electrostatic discharge (ESD) stresses during their lifetime. In this paper, it is demonstrated that repetitive ESD stresses on a protection device such as a bidirectional diode induce progressive defects into the silicon bulk. With “Sirtl etch” failure analysis technique, the defects could be localized quite precisely at the peripheral in/out junctions. The degradation mechanisms during repetitive IEC 61000-4-2 pulses have been investigated on a protection diode with the objective of improving the design for sustaining 1000 pulses at 10 kV level.