A new silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) is proposed and realized in a 0.35-µm/3.3-V fully salicided BiCMOS process for electrostatic-discharge (ESD) applications. Without using an external trigger circuitry, the unassisted SCR has a trigger voltage as low as 7 V to effectively protect deep-submicrometer MOS circuits, a holding voltage higher than the supply voltage to minimize transient influence and avoid latch-up issue, and a second snapback current density exceeding 60 mA/µm to provide robust ESD-protection solutions.Index Terms-Electrostatic discharge (ESD), high holding voltage, latch-up, low trigger voltage, silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR).
An improved dual-polarity silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) device has been proposed and realized in a 0.6-µm bipolar complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor process. The device can be used to protect electrostatic discharge (ESD) in both the positive and negative directions on pins with a voltage range that goes below ground. Comparing with the conventional bidirectional SCR structures, the new device is more suitable for low-voltage integrated circuit ESD protection applications because it possesses a smaller trigger voltage, a smaller leakage current, and a larger holding voltage.Index Terms-Bidirectional electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection, holding voltage, latch-up immunity, triggering voltage.
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