Abstract
The signal swing at output pad of some radio-frequency (RF) power amplifiers (PAs) may be higher than the supply voltage. To protect the gigahertz large-swing power amplifier from electrostatic discharge (ESD) damage in nanoscale CMOS process, a large-swing-tolerant ESD protection circuit is presented in this paper. The proposed ESD protection circuit had been designed, fabricated, and characterized in a 65-nm CMOS process, where it can achieve low parasitic capacitance, large swing tolerance, high ESD robustness, and good latchup immunity. The proposed ESD protection circuit had been further applied to a 2.4-GHz PA to provide 3-kV human-body-model (HBM) ESD robustness without degrading the RF performances.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 6381493 |
Pages (from-to) | 914-921 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques |
Volume | 61 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Electrostatic discharge (ESD)
- power amplifier (PA)
- radio-frequency (RF)
- silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR)
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Radiation
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering