National Semiconductor Corporation

Charles Chu

Marcel A Ter Beek

Marcel Ter Beek

Marcel Terbeek

In an actively triggered ESD protection structure, the control electrode is triggered by an RC circuit, wherein the capacitor is a diffusion capacitor implemented as one or more forward or reverse biased p-n junctions.

Diffusion capacitor for actively triggered ESD clamp

A chip which utilizes a silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) for ESD protection prevents a latchup condition from occurring when the SCR misfires and turns on during normal operation by utilizing a fuse in series with the SCR. The fuse allows the SCR to perform normally during an ESD event, but blows if the SCR misfires and attempts to pull a pin voltage down to the holding voltage.

SCR with a fuse that prevents latchup

The drains of the PMOS transistor and the NMOS transistor of a driver are separated and connected to two spaced-apart pins. The spaced-apart pins provide ESD protection to the NMOS transistor, which can be turned on during an ESD event by voltages that propagate through the PMOS transistor during the ESD event.

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Charles Chu