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:
Dec. 10, 2002
Filed:
Jul. 23, 2001
David J. Miles, Swindon, GB;
Richard J. Goldman, Swindon, GB;
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ), Stockholm, SE;
Abstract
An integrated circuit has a guard ring for shielding a first area (eg. high voltage area) from a second area (eg.low voltage). The guard ring comprises a conductive guard ring , (eg. metal), which is partially exposed through a passivation layer in the integrated circuit A semiconductor guard ring , (eg. silicon), is isolated from the first and second areas of semiconductor by at least two trench rings , one located on each side of the semiconductor guard ring A plurality of conductive elements (comprising a metal connection plate and via ) connect the conductive guard ring and the semiconductor guard ring at spaced apart intervals. The conductive guard ring , semiconductor guard ring and conductive elements are all connected to a ground source. If high energy particles move from the first area towards the second area, they are attracted to the exposed metal, and their charge is conducted to ground.