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:
Sep. 17, 2002
Filed:
Sep. 19, 2000
Liang-Choo Hsia, Hsinchu Hsien, TW;
United Microelectronics Corp., Hsinchu, TW;
Abstract
A floating body ESD protection circuit positioned between and coupled to an I/O pad and an internal circuit. A p-type depletion mode transistor is used to control the body of an n-type enhancement mode transistor. When the p-type depletion mode transistor is triggered, the body of n-type enhancement mode transistor remains grounded. If the p-type depletion mode transistor has not been triggered, the body remains in a floating state, lowering the range of the snapback voltage. As a consequence the ESD protection circuit is able to function more rapidly. Similarly, an n-type depletion mode transistor is used to control the body of a p-type enhancement mode transistor. When the n-type depletion mode transistor is triggered, the body remains coupled to a high voltage. If the n-type depletion mode transistor has not been triggered, the body is in a floating state. Thus, the range of the snapback voltage can be lowered, enabling the ESD protection circuit to function more rapidly.