ESD effects in power MOSFETs: a review

Abstract

Depending on the energy of the pulse, electrostatic discharge (ESD) may cause either catastrophic failure (gate-oxide breakdown) or non-catastrophic damage (degradation) of power MOSFETs. Non-catastrophic damage is manifested in the form of positive charge trapping in the gate oxide and increased drain-to-source leakage current. Low-level human body model (HBM) ESD stress causes uniform charge injection and trapping over the are of the device. High-level HBM ESD stress results in localized charge injection in both n-channel and p-channel power MOSFETs. However, the effects of this stress on n-channel power MOSFETs are different from those on p-channel MOSFETs.