Patent ID: 9343455
Filing Date: 2016-05-17
CPC Classification: B81B,H01L,H02H,H02M,H04R

Claim Text:
1. An electronics chip, the chip comprising: a charge pump, the charge pump configured to provide a predetermined voltage across a microphone, the charge pump being implemented in a low voltage CMOS process; at least one high voltage (HV) electro-static discharge (ESD) module coupled to the output of the charge pump, the HV ESD module configured to provide ESD protection for the charge pump and a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) microphone that is coupled to the chip; wherein the at least one HV ESD module includes a plurality of PMOS or NMOS transistors wherein selected ones of the PMOS or NMOS transistors include a first PWELL region, a high voltage NWELL region, and a second PWELL region, and the first PWELL region is separated from the high voltage NWELL region by a distance L that completely separates the first PWELL region from the high voltage NWELL region, the distance L being effective increase the breakdown voltage of a NWELL to substrate junction and to allow a low voltage process to be used to construct the chip and still allow the HV ESD module to provide ESD protection for the chip; a filter; wherein the at least one high voltage (HV) electro-static discharge (ESD) module is coupled between the charge pump and the filter, and wherein the output of the filter is coupled to a microphone transducer.