LIGBT-based ESD Protection Device with High Holding Voltage for 15 V Power IC Applications

• Published in: Journal of semiconductor technology and science Vol. 19; no. 5; pp. 470 - 476
• Main Authors: Do, Kyoung-Il, Lee, Byeong-Suk, Koo, Yong-Seo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 대한전자공학회 01.10.2019
• Subjects: 전기공학; robustness; Electrostatic discharge(ESD); holding voltage; LIGBT; transient latch-up
• ISSN: 1598-1657; 2233-4866
• DOI: 10.5573/JSTS.2019.19.5.470

In this study, a lateral insulated-gate bipolar transistor (LIGBT)-based device for electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection of 15 V power IC applications is proposed. This new ESD surge protection device has a floating N+ region inserted into the N-well of the conventional LIGBT structure, allowing for low trigger voltages, high holding voltages, high ESD robustness, and high latch-up immunity. The influence of the length of the N+ floating region on the electrical performance of the LIGBT-based protection device was characterized and optimized using transmission line pulsing (TLP) and transient induced latch-up (TLU) tests. A LIGBT-based protection device with a trigger voltage of 20.2 V and a holding voltage of 16.2 V was fabricated. Electrostatic discharge tests using the human body model (HBM) and the machine model (MM) show that the new device exceeds existing commercial ESD sensitivity standards. Moreover, the LIGBT device passed reliability testing over the temperature range of 300K to 500K. Therefore, the proposed LIGBT-based ESD protection device has a high holding voltage and high latch-up immunity suitable for 15 V power IC applications. KCI Citation Count: 3