Patent ID: 11973076
Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.
Field: Semiconductors (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 13:
14. An ESD protection circuit, coupled between a first reference terminal and a second reference terminal, the electrostatic discharge protection circuit comprising:
a first voltage divider;
a second voltage divider;
a first trigger circuit, comprising a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal is coupled to the first reference terminal, the second terminal is coupled to the second reference terminal via the first voltage divider;
a second trigger circuit, comprising a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal is coupled to the second reference terminal, the second terminal is coupled to the first reference terminal via the second voltage divider, and the second trigger circuit and the first trigger circuit are in parallel connection;
a first discharge component, comprising a first GaN based transistor, including a gate, a first source/drain and a second source/drain, wherein the gate of the first discharge component is coupled between the first trigger circuit and the first voltage divider; and
a second discharge component, comprising a gate, a first source/drain and a second source/drain, wherein the gate of the second discharge component is coupled between the second trigger circuit and the second voltage divider, and the first discharge component and the second are in series connection;
wherein the first trigger circuit comprises a plurality of GaN based transistors, wherein each GaN based transistor comprises a source, a drain and a gate, and the source of each GaN based transistor is coupled to the gate, and the plurality of GaN based transistors are in series connection,
wherein the first trigger circuit has a threshold voltage, and when a voltage of the first terminal of the first trigger circuit is higher than a voltage of the second terminal and a difference therebetween exceeds the threshold voltage of the first trigger circuit, the first trigger circuit conducts; and the first discharge component has a threshold voltage, and when a voltage of the gate of the first discharge component is higher than a voltage of the first source/drain or the second source/drain and a difference therebetween exceeds the threshold voltage of the first discharge component, the first discharge component conducts, and the threshold voltage of the first trigger circuit is greater than the threshold voltage of the first discharge component.