$\pi$ -SCR Device for Broadband ESD Protection in Low-Voltage CMOS Technology

Abstract

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection design is needed for integrated circuits; however, the ESD protection devices near the I/O pad may cause negative impacts on the high-frequency performance. To achieve both excellent ESD robustness and good broadband performance, a silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) with trigger diodes, a matching inductor, and a reversed diode to form a novel $\pi $ -SCR device is presented in this brief. As compared with the conventional $\pi $ -diode in silicon, the $\pi $ -SCR can reduce the clamping voltage during the critical positive-to- $V_{\text {SS}}$ (PS) ESD test, and the high-frequency performance is not seriously degraded (insertion loss $\pi $ -SCR device does not suffer the latch-up issue in low-voltage CMOS technology, and it has the potential to further reduce the clamping voltage during other ESD tests. Therefore, the novel $\pi $ -SCR device will be a good choice for broadband ESD protection in low-voltage CMOS technology.