Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Safety and protection of systems and devices – Transient responsive
Patent
1998-08-26
2000-01-04
Sherry, Michael J.
Electricity: electrical systems and devices
Safety and protection of systems and devices
Transient responsive
361 56, 361 915, H02H 322
Patent
active
060116811
ABSTRACT:
CMOS VLSI chips with pin counts greater than 100 often have multiple power pins to supply sufficient current for circuit operations. In mixed voltage ICs there are separated power pins with different power supplies for specified power operations, and in these ICs the power supplies for the digital and analog circuits are often separated due to noise considerations. In such ICs with separated power pins, the interface circuits between the circuits with different power pins are vulnerable to ESD (electrostatic discharge) stress. Even though there are suitable ESD protection circuits around the input and output pins of the IC, unexpected ESD damage still happens to the interface circuits between the circuits with different power pins, so that a whole-chip ESD protection arrangement using bi-directional SCRs is provided to protect the CMOS ICs against ESD damage. The bi-directional SCRs are placed between the separated power lines of the CMOS IC to provide ESD current discharging paths between the separated power lines. Thus, the vulnerable internal circuits and interface circuits between the different power pins are rendered remote from the ESD damage. The present ESD protection arrangement can be applied to chips having multiple or mixed-voltage power pins.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5392185 (1995-02-01), Haas, Jr. et al.
patent: 5530612 (1996-06-01), Maloney
patent: 5719733 (1998-02-01), Wei et al.
patent: 5754381 (1998-05-01), Ker
Chang Hun-Hsien
Ker Ming-Dou
Sherry Michael J.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company , Ltd.
LandOfFree
Whole-chip ESD protection for CMOS ICs using bi-directional SCRs does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Whole-chip ESD protection for CMOS ICs using bi-directional SCRs, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Whole-chip ESD protection for CMOS ICs using bi-directional SCRs will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1077370