π-SCR Device for Broadband ESD Protection in Low-Voltage CMOS Technology

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection design is needed for integrated circuits; however, the ESD protection devices near the I/O pad may cause negative impacts on the high-frequency performance. To achieve both excellent ESD robustness and good broadband performance, a silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) with trigger diodes, a matching inductor, and a reversed diode to form a novel π-SCR device is presented in this brief. As compared with the conventional π-diode in silicon, the π-SCR can reduce the clamping voltage during the critical positive-to-V_SS (PS) ESD test, and the high-frequency performance is not seriously degraded (insertion loss < 2 dB within 0-20 GHz in this brief). In addition, the π-SCR device does not suffer the latch-up issue in low-voltage CMOS technology, and it has the potential to further reduce the clamping voltage during other ESD tests. Therefore, the novel π-SCR device will be a good choice for broadband ESD protection in low-voltage CMOS technology.