For many years, IC designers coult count on the snapback behaviour of the ggNMOS device for ESD protection in mature CMOS nodes (180nm and below).
However, for more advanced CMOS, FinFET, SOI and high voltage processes there are serious drawbacks.
Tag Archives: snapback
ESD clamps for high voltage, BCD processes
Some applications really need high voltage interfaces and circuits. Think about power management and power conversion chips, automotive electronics for engine control, LCD or OLED display driver chips, motor driver electronics and industrial applications. These high voltage applications require other ESD protection clamps compared to the clamps used for protection of low voltage circuits.
Sofics has been involved in a number of chip projects that require custom ESD clamps for high voltage interfaces.
Protection of CMOS output drivers
Every computer chip needs on-chip ESD protection at its interfaces. Integrated circuits have different kinds of interfaces. This article discusses approaches to protect output drivers. This article compares different options for output drivers, focused on the NMOS transistor because that is the most sensitive part and is easily damaged during ESD stress.
SOFICS - Solutions for ICs 