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. 09, 2003
Filed:
Aug. 22, 2002
Applicant:
Inventors:
Chun-Hsiang Lai, Taichung, TW;
Meng-Huang Liu, Hsinchu, TW;
Shin Su, Banchiau, TW;
Tao-Cheng Lu, Kaohsiung, TW;
Assignee:
Macronix International Co., Ltd., Hsinchu, TW;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H03K 5/08 ; H03L 5/00 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H03K 5/08 ; H03L 5/00 ;
Abstract
A substrate pump circuit and method for I/O ESD protection including NMOS fingers connected to the interconnection between an I/O pad and an internal circuit comprises a MOS device connected to the interconnection between the I/O pad and the internal circuit and the substrate under the control of a switch to turn it on to conduct a pumping current through the substrate resistor when the I/O pad is under ESD stress, so as to pull up the potential of the substrate adjacent to the NMOS fingers, resulting in the reduction of the triggering voltage of the NMOS fingers.