Reduced finger end MOSFET breakdown voltage (BV) for electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection

• Main Author: STEINHOFF ROBERT MICHAEL
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 25.04.2006
• Subjects: BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; ELECTRIC SOLID STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; ELECTRICITY; SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES

The present invention relates to electro static discharge (ESD) protection circuitry. Multiple techniques are presented to adjust one or more ends of one or more fingers of an ESD protection device so that the ends of the fingers have a reduced initial trigger or breakdown voltage as compared to other portions of the fingers, and in particular to central portions of the fingers. In this manner, most, if not all, of the adjusted ends of the fingers are likely to trigger or fire before any of the respective fingers completely enter a snapback region and begin to conduct ESD current. Consequently, the ESD current is more likely to be distributed among all or substantially all of the plurality of fingers rather than be concentrated within one or merely a few fingers. As a result, potential harm to the ESD protection device (e.g., from current crowding) is mitigated and the effectiveness of the device is improved.