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:
Oct. 09, 2007
Filed:
Dec. 17, 2004
Hugh Sung-ki O, Fremont, CA (US);
Chih-ching Shih, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Yowjuang Bill Liu, San Jose, CA (US);
Cheng-hsiung Huang, Cupertino, CA (US);
Hugh Sung-Ki O, Fremont, CA (US);
Chih-Ching Shih, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Yowjuang Bill Liu, San Jose, CA (US);
Cheng-Hsiung Huang, Cupertino, CA (US);
Altera Corporation, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention includes a bipolar ESD device for protecting an integrated circuit from ESD damage. The bipolar ESD device includes a collector connected to a terminal of the integrated circuit, a floating base, and a grounded emitter. When an ESD pulse hits the terminal of the integrated circuit, the PN junction between the emitter and the base becomes forward biased. The forward biasing of the emitter-base PN junction in turn causes carriers to be injected into the collector-base junction, triggering the bipolar ESD device to turn on to discharge the ESD pulse. The trigger voltage of the bipolar ESD device is a fraction of a breakdown voltage of the collector-base PN junction and can be modified by adjusting a base length of the bipolar ESD device, a junction depth of the collector, or a dopant concentration in the base.