High Current TLP Characterisation: An Effective Tool for the Development of Semiconductor Devices and ESD Protection Solutions

Abstract

The classical Transmission Line Pulse (TLP) measurement system consists of a 50 Ω high voltage pulse generator, a high speed digital oscilloscope, a Source Meter Unit (SMU) and a control computer. The typical range of the pulse waveform parameters are: output voltage amplitude in the range of up to ±4 kV, output currents up to ±80 A, pulse width in the range of 1 ns up to 1.6 μs, pulse rise time in the range from 100 ps to 50 ns. The transient voltage and currents in the device under test (DUT) are recorded using a high speed digital oscilloscope with e.g. 12 GHz bandwidth and 40 GS/s sampling rate. Such a measurement system can be used very effective to investigate transient characteristics of semiconductor devices and circuits in the high voltage and high current time domain. This paper gives an introduction about the basic principle of a high voltage TLP generator and how it can be used effectively for device characterisation and electrostatic discharge (ESD) design.