Modified LC-tank ESD protection design for 60-GHz RF applications

Abstract

Nanoscale CMOS technologies, which were sensitive to electrostatic discharge (ESD), have been widely used to implement radio-frequency (RF) integrated circuits. Against ESD damages, ESD protection design must be included in RF circuits. A novel modified LC-tank ESD protection design was presented in this work. Such ESD protection circuit had been designed for 60-GHz RF applications and verified in a 65-nm CMOS process. The modified LC-tank can lower the power loss and reduce the layout area under the required human-body-model (HBM) ESD robustness, as compared with the traditional designs. With the better performances, the modified LC-tank ESD protection design was very suitable for RF ESD protection.