The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 18, 1996
Filed:
Sep. 28, 1995
Applicant:
Inventors:
Frank L Thiel, Dallas, TX (US);
Michael R Kay, Richardson, TX (US);
Louis Hutter, Richardson, TX (US);
Assignee:
Texas Instruments Inc., Dallas, TX (US);
Attorneys:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L / ; H01L / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
257362 ; 257355 ; 257356 ;
Abstract
An input protection circuit for a MOS device uses back-to-back zener diodes 30 and 40 with the anodes 130 and 150 connected and floating. This circuitry protects against positive and negative ESD events and does not interfere with the normal operation of the MOS device. The inventive circuit allows an improved gate operating range of the forward bias voltage of a first diode 30 plus the breakdown voltage of a second diode 40 below the supply voltage to the breakdown voltage of the first diode 30 plus the forward bias voltage of the second diode 40 above the supply voltage.