A novel SCR for ESD protection in ICs

A novel silicon controled rectifiers (SCR) is presented in this paper. This SCR, named as HH-LVTSCR, is characterized as high holding voltage and low trigger voltage. Through measuring the current versus voltage (I-V) by TLP, this SCR´s properties, including trigger voltage, holding voltage and failure current, are investigated. Results show that this SCR has a good electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection performance for integrated circuits (ICs). Further more, this SCR´s I-V is insightfully analyzed, such as the relationship between failure current and holding voltage, the effects of ambient temperature on holding voltage and trigger voltage, the effects of multiple-finger layout on the performance of devices. The results suggest that n-type devices perform better than p-type devices when a low holding voltage(VH) is demanded ,however p-type devices perform better while a relatively high holding voltage is required.