Abstract :
Damage due to electrostatic discharge (ESD) is one of the main causes of failure in the use of bipolar ICs. The principal failure mechanism is found to be short-circuiting of the B-E junction. A number of protection structures, realized with an 18V linear process, were characterized by testing them with a structure having a damage voltage, Vdam, lower than 400V. The Vdam of the protected structure is a good index of the quality of the protection structure and permits a comparison of the various solutions. Protection structures with Vdam in the range 3000V to 9000V are presented.
