ESD in Silicon Integrated Circuits, 2nd Edition
Ajith Amerasekera, Charvaka Duvvury
Copyright c 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
ISB N s : 0-471-49871-8 (Hardback); 0-470-84605-4 (Electronic)
ESD in Silicon
Integrated Circuits
Second Edition
ESD in Silicon
Integrated Circuits
Second Edition
Ajith Amerasekera
Charvaka Duvvury
Texas Instruments, Inc., USA
With
Warren Anderson
Compaq Computer Corporation, USA
Horst Gieser
Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and
Microintegration IZM ATIS, Germany
Sridhar Ramaswamy
Texas Instruments, Inc., USA
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Contents
Preface
1 Introduction
1.1 Background
1.2 The ESD Problem
1.3 Protecting Against ESD
1.4 Outline of the Book
Bibliography
2 ESD Phenomenon
Introduction
2.1
2.2 Electrostatic Voltage
2.3 Discharge
2.4 ESD Stress Models
Bibliography
3 Test Methods
Introduction
3.1
3.2 Human Body Model (HBM)
3.3 Machine Model (MM)
3.4 Charged Device Model (CDM)
3.5 Socket Device Model (SDM)
3.6 Metrology, Calibration, Verification
3.7 Transmission Line Pulsing (TLP)
3.8 Failure Criteria
3.9 Summary
Bibliography
4 Physics and Operation of ESD Protection Circuit Elements
Introduction
4.1
4.2 Resistors
4.3 Diodes
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CONTENTS
4.4 Transistor Operation
4.5 Transistor Operation under ESD Conditions
4.6 Electrothermal Effects
4.7 SCR Operation
4.8 Conclusion
Bibliography
5 ESD Protection Circuit Design Concepts and Strategy
5.1 The Qualities of Good ESD Protection
5.2 ESD Protection Design Methods
5.3 Selecting an ESD Strategy
5.4 Summary
Bibliography
6 Design and Layout Requirements
Introduction
nMOS Transistors (FPDs)
6.1
6.2 Thick Field Device
6.3
6.4 Gate-Coupled nMOS (GCNMOS)
6.5 Gate Driven nMOS (GDNMOS)
6.6 SCR Protection Device
6.7 ESD Protection Design Synthesis
6.8 Total Input Protection
6.9 ESD Protection Using Diode-Based Devices
6.10 Power Supply Clamps
6.11 Bipolar and BiCMOS Protection Circuits
6.12 Summary
Bibliography
7 Advanced Protection Design
Introduction
nMOS Triggered nMOS (NTNMOS)
7.1
7.2 PNP-Driven nMOS (PDNMOS)
7.3 Substrate Triggered nMOS (STNMOS)
7.4
7.5 ESD for Mixed-Voltage I/O
7.6 CDM Protection
7.7 SOI Technology
7.8 High-Voltage Transistors
7.9 BiCMOS Protection
7.10 RF Designs
7.11 General I/O Protection Schemes
7.12 Design/Layout Errors
7.13 Summary
Bibliography
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CONTENTS
8 Failure Modes, Reliability Issues, and Case Studies
Introduction
8.1
8.2 Failure Mode Analysis
8.3 Reliability and Performance Considerations
8.4 Advanced CMOS Input Protection
8.5 Optimizing the Input Protection Scheme
8.6 Designs for Special Applications
8.7 Process Effects on Input Protection Design
8.8 Total IC Chip Protection
8.9 Power Bus Protection
8.10 Internal Chip ESD Damage
8.11 Stress Dependent ESD Behavior
8.12 Failure Mode Case Studies
8.13 Summary
Bibliography
9 Influence of Processing on ESD
Introduction
9.1
9.2 High Current Behavior
9.3 Cross Section of a MOS Transistor
9.4 Drain-Source Implant Effects
9.5 p-Well Effects
9.6 n-Well Effects
9.7 Epitaxial Layers and Substrates
9.8 Gate Oxides
9.9 Silicides
9.10 Contacts
9.11 Interconnect and Metalization
9.12 Gate Length Dependencies
9.13 Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI)
9.14 Bipolar Transistors
9.15 Diodes
9.16 Resistors
9.17 Reliability Trade-Offs
9.18 Summary
Bibliography
10 Device Modeling of High Current Effects
10.1 Introduction
10.2 The Physics of ESD Damage
10.3 Thermal (“Second”) Breakdown
10.4 Analytical Models Using the Heat Equation
10.5 Electrothermal Device Simulations
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10.6 Conclusion
Bibliography
11 Circuit Simulation Basics, Approaches, and Applications
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Modeling the MOSFET
11.3 Modeling Bipolar Junction Transistors
11.4 Modeling Diffusion Resistors
11.5 Modeling Protection Diodes
11.6 Simulation of Protection Circuits
11.7 Electrothermal Circuit Simulations
11.8 Conclusion
Bibliography
12 Conclusion
12.1 Long-Term Relevance of ESD In ICs
12.2 State-of-the-Art for ESD Protection
12.3 Current Limitations
12.4 Future Issues
Bibliography
Index
CONTENTS
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Preface
In the seven years since the first edition of this book was completed, Electrostatic
Discharge (ESD) phenomena in integrated circuits (IC) continues to be important
as technologies shrink and the speed and size of the chips increases. The phenom-
ena related to ESD events in semiconductor devices take place outside the realm of
normal device operation. Hence, the physics governing this behavior are not typ-
ically found in general textbooks on semiconductors. Similarly the circuit design
issues involve nonstandard approaches that are not covered in general books on
electronic design. There has been a large amount of work done in the areas of
ESD circuit design and the physics involved, most of which has been published
in a number of papers and conference proceedings. This book covers the state-
of-the-art in circuit design for ESD prevention as well as the device physics, test
methods, and characterization. We also include case studies showing examples of
approaches to solving ESD design problems.
For the second edition, we have completely revised a number of chapters and
brought other chapters up to date with the latest learning. The last seven years have
seen many developments in the understanding of ESD phenomenon and the issues
related to circuit and transistor design, as well as to modeling and simulation.
The book is intended for those working in the field of IC circuit design and tran-
sistor device design. In addition, the basics presented in this book should also appeal
to graduate students in the field of semiconductor reliability and device/circuit mod-
eling. As the problems associated with ESD become significant in the IC industry
the demand for graduates with a basic knowledge of ESD phenomena also increases.
We hope that this book will help students meet the demands of the IC industry in
terms of understanding and approaching ESD problems in semiconductor devices.
There are many companies and research institutes that have made it possible to
understand and solve the majority of ESD problems in ICs. Some of the companies
that have been particularly active in recent years are Texas Instruments, Philips
Semiconductors, Lucent, Rockwell, IBM, Motorola, DEC/Compaq, David Sarnoff
Labs, and Intel. Research Institutes that have made significant contributions in
recent years are Sandia National Labs, Clemson University, Stanford University,
the University of California in Berkeley, the University of Western Ontario in
Canada, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champain, Twente University in The
Netherlands, the Technical University of Munich and the Fraunhofer Institute both
in Germany, and IMEC in Belgium.
We have many people to thank for their contributions to our personal knowledge
and understanding in this area. We would particularly like to thank Robert Rountree,