Wide range control of the sustaining voltage of electrostatic discharge protection elements realized in a smart power technology

Abstract Highly efficient electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection structures with a sustaining voltage >40 V are realized in a smart power technology. They guarantee an excellent ESD protection at high voltage pins without the danger of transient latch-up. Compared to the vertical npn transistor a shift of the sustaining voltage of 21 V has been achieved purely by a layout modification of the buried layer. The high ESD performance has been proven on product level by an ESD hardness of >8 kV (HBM).

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