Test structures and test methodology for developing high voltage ESD protection

In this work, test structures and a test methodology is developed to evaluate proposed silicon controlled rectifier based ESD clamps in all modes of operation. TCAD analysis is used to identify possible ESD clamp structures. Standard ESD testing on the stand-alone test structures is used to screen the ESD capability of the candidate clamps. The transmission line pulse technique, with variation in pulse rise time, is used to evaluate the dynamic triggering characteristics of a snapback based clamp and select an appropriate clamp for fast switching applications. Finally, a very efficient local ESD clamp based on a bipolar-silicon controlled rectifier in a 24 V complementary power BiCMOS smart power process is presented.