Author Archives: kverhaege

ggNMOS (grounded-gated NMOS)

ggNMOS intro: For decades, a traditional workhorse device for ESD protection for standard applications in CMOS technology has been the grounded-gate NMOS device (ggNMOS). Nevertheless, we have been explaining the operation of this device countless times, including as recently as 3 weeks ago. So, it is time for a short blog article. The schematic ofContinue reading “ggNMOS (grounded-gated NMOS)”

2022 Semiconductor Industry Outlook

It’s Christmas 2021. The semiconductor industry is flooded with income: all fabs run at or above maximum capacity, volumes are in short supply while prices of wafers and ICs are floating up. Electronics are everywhere in our lock-down offices and private homes, and in many other systems and services that all of us use (almost) every day.

Sofics’ CEO outlook for 2022…

CDM robustness of SCR protection devices

We often get the question: what is the CDM robustness of your ESD protection circuit? Though the question is clear, it is very hard to formulate a meaningful answer. CDM qualifies the performance of an IC or die in a specific package. Nevertheless, one expects an answer for the ESD circuit expressed in Volts.

This article discusses how VF-TLP analysis can be used to assess the CDM current capability of ESD devices.

ESD protection of interfaces with thin gate oxide transistors

How do you protect chip interfaces that require thin gate (core) transistors in advanced CMOS, SOI of FinFET processes? How do you ensure sufficient ESD robustness? Conventional ESD protection is not sufficient. Discover the background for that and a solution as well in this article. The answer is found in a strategy of local clamping with power-efficient devices.

ANYSILICON CEO TALK

This interview was held with Koen Verhaege, CEO of Sofics, June 2020Link to article: https://anysilicon.com/ceo-talk-koen-verhaege-sofics/ Tell me a bit about your background? How did you first get started with your company? I graduated from the University of Leuven, Belgium, with a degree in microelectronics in 1990 and started my professional career at IMEC in theContinue reading “ANYSILICON CEO TALK”