Title :
Diode-triggered SCR (DTSCR) for RF-ESD protection of BiCMOS SiGe HBTs and CMOS ultra-thin gate oxides
Author :
Mergens, M.P.J. ; Russ, C.C. ; Verhaege, K.G. ; Armer, J. ; Jozwiak, P.C. ; Mohn, R. ; Keppens, B. ; Trinh, C.S.
Author_Institution :
Sarnoff Eur., Gistel, Belgium
Abstract :
A novel diode-triggered SCR (DTSCR) ESD protection element is introduced for low-voltage application (signal, supply voltage /spl les/1.8 V) and extremely narrow ESD design margins. Trigger voltage engineering in conjunction with fast and efficient SCR voltage clamping is applied for the protection of ultra-sensitive circuit nodes, such as SiGe HBT bases (e.g. f/sub Tmax/=45 GHz in BiCMOS-0.35 /spl mu/m LNA input) and thin gate-oxides (e.g. tox=1.7 nm in CMOS-0.09 /spl mu/m input). SCR integration is possible based on CMOS devices or can alternatively be formed by high-speed SiGe HBTs.
Keywords :
BiCMOS integrated circuits; CMOS integrated circuits; Ge-Si alloys; MMIC; dielectric thin films; electrostatic discharge; heterojunction bipolar transistors; integrated circuit measurement; low-power electronics; thyristors; 0.09 micron; 0.35 micron; 1.7 nm; 1.8 V; 45 GHz; BiCMOS SiGe HBT; CMOS devices; CMOS ultra-thin gate oxides; DTSCR; ESD design margins; LNA input; RF-ESD protection; SCR integration; SCR voltage clamping; SiGe; SiGe HBT bases; SiO/sub 2/-Si; diode-triggered SCR ESD protection element; high-speed SiGe HBT; low-voltage application; signal voltage; supply voltage; trigger voltage engineering; ultra-sensitive circuit nodes; BiCMOS integrated circuits; Clamps; Diodes; Electrostatic discharge; Germanium silicon alloys; Protection; Signal design; Silicon germanium; Thyristors; Voltage;
Conference_Titel :
Electron Devices Meeting, 2003. IEDM '03 Technical Digest. IEEE International
Conference_Location :
Washington, DC, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7872-5
DOI :
10.1109/IEDM.2003.1269334
