Diode-triggered SCR (DTSCR) for RF-ESD protection of BiCMOS SiGe HBTs and CMOS ultra-thin gate oxides

Abstract

A novel diode-triggered SCR (DTSCR) ESD protection element is introduced for low-voltage application (signal, supply voltage /spl les/1.8 V) and extremely narrow ESD design margins. Trigger voltage engineering in conjunction with fast and efficient SCR voltage clamping is applied for the protection of ultra-sensitive circuit nodes, such as SiGe HBT bases (e.g. f/sub Tmax/=45 GHz in BiCMOS-0.35 /spl mu/m LNA input) and thin gate-oxides (e.g. tox=1.7 nm in CMOS-0.09 /spl mu/m input). SCR integration is possible based on CMOS devices or can alternatively be formed by high-speed SiGe HBTs.