ESD implantations for on-chip ESD protection with layout consideration in 0.18-/spl mu/m salicided CMOS technology

One method to enhance electrostatic discharge (ESD) robustness of the on-chip ESD protection devices is through process design by adding an extra "ESD implantation" mask. In this work, ESD robustness of nMOS devices and diodes with different ESD implantation solutions in a 0.18-/spl mu/m salicided CMOS process is investigated by experimental testchips. The second breakdown current (I/sub t2/) of the nMOS devices with these different ESD implantation solutions for on-chip ESD protection are measured by a transmission line pulse generator (TLPG). The human-body-model (HBM) and machine-model (MM) ESD levels of these devices are also investigated and compared. A significant improvement in ESD robustness is observed when an nMOS device is fabricated with both boron and arsenic ESD implantations. The ESD robustness of the N-type diode under the reverse-biased stress condition can also be improved by the boron ESD implantation. The layout consideration in multifinger MOSFETs and diodes for better ESD robustness is also investigated.     

功率VDMOS器件ESD防护结构设计研究

随着半导体工艺的不断发展,器件的特征尺寸在不断缩小,栅氧化层也越来越薄,使得器件受到静电放电破坏的概率大大增加。为此,设计了一种用于保护功率器件栅氧化层的多晶硅背靠背齐纳二极管ESD防护结构。多晶硅背靠背齐纳二极管通过在栅氧化层上的多晶硅中不同区域进行不同掺杂实现。该结构与现有功率VDMOS制造工艺完全兼容,具有很强的鲁棒性。由于多晶硅与体硅分开,消除了衬底耦合噪声和寄生效应等,从而有效减小了漏电流。经流片测试验证,该ESD防护结构的HBM防护级别达8 kV以上。     

Overstress and electrostatic discharge in CMOS and BCD integrated circuits

The ESD qualification of the new technologies is obtained by testing different device structures an comparing the ESD robustness evaluated by means of different testing methods (HBM, MM, CDM and TLP). The influence of the layout parameters on the ESD robustness must also be characterized. In this paper we will present data concerning the ESD robustness of both 0.35 μm CMOS and 0.6 μm smart power (BCD5) protection structures. A study of the influence of layout parameters on the ESD robustness with different test methods (HBM, CDM and TLP) will be given. Failure analysis by means of electrical characterization, Emission Microscopy and SEM inspection will also been presented.     

A thyristor-only input ESD protection scheme for CMOS RF ICs

We propose an input protection scheme composed of thyristor devices only avoiding usage of a clamp NMOS device to minimize the area consumed by an input pad structure in CMOS RF ICs. For this purpose, we suggest low-voltage triggering thyristor protection device structures assuming usage of standard CMOS processes, and attempt an in-depth comparison study with a conventional thyristor protection scheme incorporating a clamp NMOS device in the input pad. The comparison study mainly focuses on robustness against the human body model electrostatic discharge (HBM ESD) in terms of peak voltages applied to gate oxides in an input buffer and lattice heating inside protection devices based on DC and mixed-mode transient analyses utilizing a 2-dimensional device simulator. We constructed an equivalent circuit for the input HBM test environment of the CMOS chip equipped with the input ESD protection devices, and by executing mixed-mode simulations including up to four protection devices and analyzing the results for five different test modes, we attempt a detailed analysis on the problems which can occur in real HBM tests. We figure out strength of the proposed thyristor-only protection scheme, and suggest guidelines relating the design of the protection devices and circuits.     

Study of the ESD behavior of different clamp configurations in a 0.35 μm CMOS technology

At present, submicron technologies, electrostatic discharges (ESD) are one of the major threats to the reliability of ICs. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that a very good ESD protection level can be achieved provided we can insure a uniform triggering of multifinger NMOS protection devices. This can be done by a gate coupling to the drain, either by a capacitance or by a zener diode. Human body model (HBM) and charged device model (CDM) test results, as well as transmission line measurement (TLM) and light emission results support this finding.     

The ESD protection mechanisms and the related failure modes and mechanisms observed in SOI snapback nMOSFET's

The objective of this paper is to discuss the characteristics of SOI nMOSFET's that can be exploited to clamp HBM ESD stresses and to explain the related failure modes and mechanism observed in these devices. The influence on the HBM ESD protection capability of the first order main parameter: the nMOSFET gate length is investigated. The ESD protection capability for both positive and negative polarity HBM stresses is elaborated and compared. The ESD clamping and device failure mechanisms limiting the ESD protection performance are identified.     

2.4GHz低噪声放大器的全芯片ESD保护设计

设计并流片验证了一种0.18μmRFCMOS工艺的2.4GHz低噪声放大器的全芯片静电放电(ESD)保护方案。对于射频(RF)I/O口的ESD防护,主要对比了二极管、可控硅(SCR)以及不同版图的互补型SCR,经流片与测试,发现岛屿状互补型SCR对I/O端口具有很好的ESD防护综合性能。对于电源口的ESD防护,主要研究了不同触发方式的ESD保护结构,结果表明,RCMOS触发SCR结构(RCMOS-SCR)具有良好的ESD鲁棒性和开启速度。基于上述结构的全芯片ESD保护设计,RF I/O口采用岛屿状布局的互补SCR结构的ESD防护设计,该ESD防护电路引入0.16dB的噪声系数和176fF的寄生电容,在人体模型(HBM)下防护能力可达6kV;电源口采用了RCMOS-SCR,实现了5kV HBM的ESD保护能力,该设计方案已经在有关企业得到应用。     

On-chip ESD protection design by using polysilicon diodes in CMOSprocess

A novel on-chip electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection design by using polysilicon diodes as the ESD clamp devices in CMOS process is proposed in this paper. Different process splits have been experimentally evaluated to find a suitable doping concentration for optimizing the polysilicon diodes for both on-chip ESD protection design and the application requirements of the smart-card ICs. The secondary breakdown current (It2) of the polysilicon diodes under the forward- and reverse-bias conditions has been measured by the transmission-line-puIse (TLP) generator to investigate its ESD robustness. Moreover, by adding an efficient VDD-to-VSS clamp circuit into the IC, the human-body-model (HBM) ESD robustness of the IC with polysilicon diodes as the ESD clamp devices has been successfully improved from the original ~300 V to become ⩾3 kV. This design has been practically applied in a mass-production smart-card IC     

HBM and TLP ESD robustness in smart-power protection structures

In this paper we will present data concerning the ESD robustness of smart power protection structures (BCD technology) for input-output circuits. A comparison between the robustness of “p-body” and “p-well” based structures and a study of the influence of layout parameters on the ESD robustness will be given. The correlation between ESD roubustness obtained with different test methods (HBM and TLP) will be also presented.     

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.     

保护环版图结构对ESD防护器件耐压能力的影响

基于华润上华0.5 μm双极-CMOS-DMOS (BCD)工艺设计制备了不同保护环分布情况下的叉指型内嵌可控硅整流器的横向扩散金属氧化物半导体(LDMOS-SCR)结构器件,并利用传输线脉冲(TLP)测试比较静电放电(ESD)防护器件的耐压能力.以LDMOS-SCR结构为基础,按照16指、8指、4指和2指设置保护环,形成4种不同类型的版图结构.通过器件的直流仿真分析多指器件的开启情况,利用传输线脉冲测试对比不同保护环版图结构的耐压能力.仿真和测试结果表明,改进后的3类版图结构相对于普遍通用的第一类版图结构,二次击穿电流都有所提升,其中每8指设置一个保护环的版图结构二次击穿电流提升了76.36％,其单位面积的鲁棒性能也最好,为相应工艺设计最高耐压值的ESD防护器件提供了参考结构和方法.     

SiGe工艺中HBT结构ESD保护电路设计

为有效控制生产成本,减少工艺步骤,提出了在SiGe工艺中,用SiGe异质结双极型晶体管(HBT)代替传统二极管来实现静电放电(ESD)保护的方案。通过设计不同的HBT器件的版图结构,以及采取不同的端口连接方式,对HBT单体结构防护ESD的能力强弱和其寄生电容大小之间的关系进行了比较分析,并从中找出最优化的ESD解决方案。应用于实际电路中的验证结果表明,此方案在ESD防护能力达到人体模型(HBM)2 kV的基础上,I/O(IN/OUT输入输出)端口的寄生电容值可以做到200 fF以下,且此电容值还可通过HBT串联模式进一步降低。     

Comprehensive ESD protection for RF inputs

We demonstrate that narrow-band tuned circuits may be used for ESD protection of RF inputs, and a figure of merit for optimization of these circuits is presented. The performance of the ESD-protected RF circuit is dependent on the quality factor of the ESD device, and various protection devices are evaluated in this work. Record-breaking human body model (HBM) protection levels, exceeding 5 kV, have been achieved without significantly degrading the RF performance at 5 GHz. Broadband circuit protection is also addressed.     

ESD protection design for mixed-voltage I/O buffer with substrate-triggered circuit

A substrate-triggered technique is proposed to improve the electrostatic discharge (ESD) robustness of a stacked-nMOS device in the mixed-voltage I/O circuit. The substrate-triggered technique can further lower the trigger voltage of a stacked-nMOS device to ensure effective ESD protection for mixed-voltage I/O circuits. The proposed ESD protection circuit with substrate-triggered design for a 2.5-V/3.3-V-tolerant mixed-voltage I/O circuit has been fabricated and verified in a 0.25-/spl mu/m salicided CMOS process. The substrate-triggered circuit for a mixed-voltage I/O buffer to meet the desired circuit application in different CMOS processes can be easily adjusted by using HSPICE simulation. Experimental results have confirmed that the human- body-model (HBM) ESD robustness of a mixed-voltage I/O circuit can be increased /spl sim/60% by this substrate-triggered design.     

多晶PIN二极管及二极管串作良好工艺兼容并可移植ESD保护器件的研究

作为静电保护保护器件,多晶PIN二极管具有良好工艺兼容性及可移植的优点。文章制作并展示了多晶PIN二极管的反向击穿电压、漏电流及电容特性,同时通过正向及反向传输线脉冲电流电压特性评估了其静电保护能力。另外为了经一部降低电容并控制反向崩溃及正向开启电压对多晶PIN二极管串进行了研究。最后对器件特性进行了分析讨论,阐明了器件参数对性能的影响。     

Influence of parasitic structures on the ESD performance of a pure bipolar process

The purpose of this work is to show that parasitic structures greatly affect the ESD performance of a bipolar process. More especially, the existence of a parasitic diode in parallel to the protection transistor in the input stages of a pure bipolar IC leads to a low ESD performance for HBM stresses, while the ESD performance for MM stresses is high. Suppression of this diode significantly increases the ESD performance for both types of stresses.     

Gate-controlled field-effect diodes and silicon-controlled rectifier for charged-device model ESD protection in advanced SOI technology

Silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) devices are used as local clamping ESD devices. However, conventional designs suffer from slow turn-on, which causes problems in sub 10 ns charged-device model (CDM) protection, especially in deeply scaled technologies. In this paper, a double-well field-effect diode (DWFED) and an improved field-effect diode (FED) are designed to address this challenge. They are fabricated and characterized in 45 nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology and experimentally demonstrated to be suitable for pad-based local clamping under a normal supply voltage (V_dd) range (at or below 1 V) in high-speed applications. ESD protection capabilities are investigated using very fast transmission line pulse (VF-TLP) tests to predict the device performance in CDM events. FED’s advantages in improving transient turn-on behavior and reducing DC leakage current are analyzed and compared with the regular SCR and the DWFED. Technology CAD (TCAD) simulations are used to interpret turn-on behavior and guide design. The improved devices may be implemented in a local clamping scheme that expands the ESD design window for advanced technology nodes.     

Analysis of ESD protection structure behaviour after ageing as new approach for system level reliability of automotive power devices

ESD (electrostatic discharge) protection devices as part of the device pad circuitry of semiconductors are designed for a specific wafer technology and ESD withstanding voltage. After successful qualification they will be released for a usage in high volume products where they must ensure the ESD robustness over the complete product lifetime.All present automotive qualification standards e.g. AEC (automotive electronic council) or JEDEC do not cover the assessment of the typical drifts of the characteristic electrical ESD protection device parameters after application of device specific reliability stress tests under consideration of the target ESD stress [Automotive Electronic Council, AEC-Q100-Rev-F, 2003; Automotive Electronic Council, AEC-Q101-Rev-C, 2005; JEDEC JP-001, Foundry Process Qualification Guideline, 2002].The paper introduces a methodology to characterize ESD protection diodes after ageing by BTS (bias temperature stress) reliability tests. The used devices are partly ESD pre-stressed before application of the reliability test. The influence of the reliability stress on the ESD robustness is evaluated by using an ESD post-stress.The experimental results are presented and discussed. For ESD protection devices release targets for automotive power applications are defined.     

Design and integration of novel SCR-based devices for ESD protection in CMOS/BiCMOS technologies

Robust and novel devices called high-holding low-voltage trigger silicon controlled rectifiers (HH-LVTSCRs) for electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection of integrated circuits (ICs) are designed, fabricated and characterized. The S-type current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the HH-LVTSCRs are adjustable to different operating conditions by changing the device dimensions and terminal interconnections. Comparison between complementary n- and p-type HH-LVTSCR devices shows that n-type devices perform better than p-type devices when a low holding voltage (V/sub H/) is allowed during the on-state of the ESD protection structure, but when a relatively high holding voltage is required, p-type devices perform better. Results further demonstrate that HH-LVTSCRs with a multiple-finger layout render high levels of ESD protection per unit area, applicable in the design of ICs with stringent ESD protection requirements of over 15 kV IEC.     

Design of SCR-based ESD protection device for power clamp using deep-submicron CMOS technology

The proposed device has a high holding voltage and a high triggering current characteristic. These characteristics enable latch-up immune normal operation as well as superior full chip electro-static-discharge (ESD) protection. The device has a small area in requirement robustness in comparison to gate-grounded NMOS (ggNMOS). The proposed ESD protection device is designed in 0.25 μm CMOS technology. In the experimental result, the proposed ESD clamp has a double trigger characteristic, a high holding voltage of 3.8 V and a high trigger current of greater than 120 mA. The robustness has measured to HBM 8 kV (HBM: human body model) and MM 400 V (MM: machine model). The proposed device has a high-level It2 of 52 mA/μm approximately.