Abstract:
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit for protecting an integrated circuit (IC) having a first voltage potential, a first power supply potential and a second power supply potential. The ESD circuit includes a first NPN bipolar transistor having a first N-doped junction, a second N-doped junction and a third P-doped base junction. The first N-doped junction is coupled to the first voltage potential and the second N-doped junction is coupled to the first power supply potential. The ESD circuit also includes a first PNP bipolar transistor having a first P-doped junction, a second P-doped junction and a third N-doped base junction. The first P-doped junction is coupled to the first voltage potential and the second P-doped junction is coupled to the second power supply potential. The third P-doped base junction of the first NPN bipolar transistor is coupled to the third N-doped base junction of the first PNP bipolar transistor.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES 
       [0001]    This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/169,544 filed Apr. 15, 2009, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention generally relates to circuits that provide improved electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection, and more particularly to an ESD protection circuit for providing an improved means for handling the maximum current during ESD operation. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    During ESD, large currents can flow through an Integrated Circuit (IC), potentially causing damage. To avoid this damage, protection circuits/elements are added. A lot of products require low capacitance at the input and high ESD performance. One of the lowest cap solutions for ESD protection is dual diode. This is the standard approach to protect an Input/Output (IO) circuitry. A typical protection circuit  100  uses a dual diode as a very classic ESD solution as shown in  FIG. 1 . The IO to be protected is connected to a first voltage potential, pad  102 . Element  101  is a first power supply potential, an IC power supply (VDD) line and element  103  is a second power supply potential, ground (GND). A diode  104  is placed between the IO  102  and the VDD  101  to conduct current from the IO  102  to VDD  101  and a diode  105  is placed to conduct the current from the GND  103  to the IO  102 . The diode  104  is normally a P+ junction connected to the IO  102  in an N-Well connected to the VDD  101 . The diode  105  is normally an N+ junction connected to the IO  102  and the P-Well or P-substrate connected to GND  103 . 
         [0004]    For an ESD stress case from the IO  102  (positive zap) to the VDD  101  or from the IO  102  to the GND  103 , all the current will flow through the diode  104  while there will be no current flowing through the diode  105 . Similarly, in the case from stress from the GND  103  to the IO  102  or from the VDD  101  to the IO  102 , all the current will flow through diode  105  while there will be no current flowing through the diode  105 . 
         [0005]    The maximum current that a diode can handle before failure is proportional with the area of the junction connected to pad. This area of the junction is the N+ junction in the case of diode  105  and P+ junction in the case of the diode  104 . So each of these junctions must have a minimum area to handle the ESD current. Furthermore, the capacitance of the dual diode at the input is also proportional with the junction area. In this case the total capacitance seen at the IO pad  102  will be determined by the sum of the two junction areas of the diodes  104  and  105 . 
         [0006]    The disadvantage of utilizing a dual diode in a protection circuit is that all the current must flow though one junction. For example, for the stress case between the IO  102  and the VDD  101 , the junction of the diode  105  does not provide any assistance in ESD protection, however, it does contribute to the total capacitance. Thus, there is a need in the art to be able to provide an ESD protection circuit such that the junction must be designed to handle all the current in the ESD protection circuit. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The present invention provides an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit for protecting an integrated circuit (IC). The ESD circuit includes a first voltage potential, a first power supply potential and a second power supply potential. The ESD circuit also includes at least a first NPN bipolar transistor having a first N-doped junction, a second N-doped junction and a third P-doped base junction. The first N-doped junction is coupled to the first voltage potential and the second N-doped junction is coupled to the first power supply potential. The ESD circuit further includes at least a first PNP bipolar transistor having a first P-doped junction, a second P-doped junction and a third N-doped base junction. The first P-doped junction is coupled to the first voltage potential and the second P-doped junction is coupled to the second power supply potential. The third P-doped base junction of the first NPN bipolar transistor is coupled to the third N-doped base junction of the first PNP bipolar transistor such that the first NPN bipolar transistor and the first PNP bipolar transistor conduct current in response to an ESD event. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    The present invention will be more readily understood from the detailed description of exemplary embodiments presented below considered in conjunction with the attached drawings, of which: 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  depicts a schematic diagram of a prior art circuit of an ESD protection structure. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  depicts a schematic diagram of an improved ESD protection circuit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  depict a schematic diagram of current flow in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0012]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  depict an improved ESD protection circuit in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  depicts an improved ESD protection circuit in accordance with further embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  depict an improved ESD protection circuit in accordance with even further embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 5A  depicts a schematic diagram of a current flow in  FIG. 5 . 
       
    
    
       [0016]    It is to be understood that the attached drawings are for purposes of illustrating the concepts of the invention. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0017]    The present invention provides an ESD protection circuit having two base junctions combined to conduct maximum current during ESD stress. 
         [0018]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , there is shown an ESD protection circuit  200  in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the circuit  200 , a protection circuit  202  comprising bipolar transistors is added between the VDD line  101  and the GND line  103 . Specifically, an NPN  201  of the protection circuit  202  is added between the IO  102  and the VDD line  101  and a PNP  203  of the protection circuit  202  is added between the IO  102  and the GND line  103 . Furthermore as shown in  FIG. 2 , the base junction of the NPN  201  is connected to the base junction of the PNP  203 . So, by combining the two junctions, the bipolar transistor  202  can function to conduct maximum current during ESD stress as will be described in greater detail with respect to  FIGS. 2A and 2B  below. 
         [0019]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  illustrate the current flow in  FIG. 2  during an ESD event. A power clamp  208  parallel to the protection circuit  202  is coupled between the VDD line  101  and the GND line  103 . This power clamp  208  will not be enabled during normal operation and will activate only during ESD operation  FIG. 2A  shows how the current will flow for stress from the GND  103  (negative ESD stress) to the IO  102  and  FIG. 2B  shows how the current will flow for stress (positive ESD stress) from the IO  102  to the VDD  101 . For positive stress from the IO  102  to the GND  103 , the current will follow the path from the IO  102  to the VDD  101  and through the power clamp  208  to the GND  103 . Similarly for the positive stress from the VDD  101  to the IO  102 , the current will first flow through the power clamp  108  and then follow the path from GND  103  to the IO  102 . 
         [0020]    As illustrated in  FIG. 2A , initially current  204  will flow from the collector-base junction of the PNP  203  to the base-emitter of the NPN  201 . This current path  204  is the series connection of two forwarded junctions which will conduct current if the voltage between the GND  103  and the IO  102  is two times the built-in voltage of a diode (around 0.7V-1V). So, there are two base junctions in series which will turn on the bottom PNP  203  causing another current  206  to flow through the collector-emitter of the PNP  203 . As known with the operation of a bipolar transistor, the current  204  flowing through the collector-base junction of the PNP  203  will be multiplied with a certain factor, beta (multiplication factor), and this multiplied current will flow from the collector to the emitter of the PNP  203 . Thus, from this moment onwards, both junctions, i.e. the emitter of NPN  201  and the emitter of PNP  203 ) are conducting current simultaneously from the GND  103  to the IO  102 , one path current  204  conducts the base current and the other path  206  conducts beta times the base current. 
         [0021]    Similarly operation can be defined for the ESD stress from the IO  102  to the VDD  101  such that there are two current paths. Initially, current  205  flows through the emitter-base of the PNP  203  to the base-collector of the NPN  201 . So, there are two base junctions in series which will turn on the top NPN  201  causing another current  207  to flow through the emitter to collector of the NPN  201 . So, there are two junctions at the IO  102 , i.e. base-emitter of the PNP  203  and the collector-emitter of the NPN  201  conducting current simultaneously. 
         [0022]    Thus, clearly by connecting the two junctions to an IO pad as illustrated in  FIGS. 2A and 2B , the ESD current uses both junctions simultaneously for both current flow directions during ESD stress. Since the junction area of the junction connected to the IO is proportional to the current flowing through this junction and since the current will be lower (due to the second path—total current stays the same), the junctions area will be lowered. So, in an ideal case, the junction area (and the capacitance) can be reduced up to 50%. However, in a practical case the reduction will be between 0 and 50%. The actual performance depends on the beta of the bipolar transistors. If this beta value is 1, the reduction of the junction area will be 50%; otherwise, the area reduction will be smaller, however, the area reduction will still be much more than the prior art. 
         [0023]    Referring to  FIGS. 3A and 3B  there is shown an ESD protection circuit  300  in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 3A , an additional circuit  302  can be connected between the bases of the two bipolar, NPN  203  and the PNP  201  of the circuit  200 . Both the current flows as discussed above can be more controlled by increasing resistance (is equal by limiting current) or by introducing extra voltage drop. With these techniques the reduction of the area/capacitance can be optimized to reach the ideal beta of 50% as discussed above. If more base current  204  or  205  is flowing through the two bipolar than the current  206  or  207  through the collector/emitter, then adding circuit elements between the two bases will help to reduce this base current and to enhance the collector/emitter current, i.e.  206 / 207 . 
         [0024]    In one preferred embodiment, the additional circuits are diodes which built up an extra voltage drop (around 0.7V-1V built-in voltage+some extra voltage due to resistance of the diode) for each diode. The number of diodes depends on the technology. In another preferred embodiment, the additional circuit elements may preferably be a resistor or a MOS. 
         [0025]      FIG. 3B  shows two additional circuits  304  and  306  besides the circuit  302  in  FIG. 3A . Circuit  304  is added between the base of the NPN  201  and the VDD  101  and circuit  306  is added between the base of the PNP  203  and the GND  103 . Since the circuits  304  and  306  are placed in parallel with the base-collectors of the bipolar transistors, they would help to reduce the beta if the beta of the bipolar transistor  202  is larger than 1. For example for the stress case as described in  FIG. 2A , the current through the collector-base junction of bipolar  203  was multiplied with a factor beta (this is the collector-emitter current). Since the circuit  306  is placed in parallel with the collector-base junction, it is noted that not all the current will flow through the collector base junction, and a part of the current will flow through the parallel path, i.e. through the circuit  306 . This current will not be multiplied with a factor beta. Thus, the current flowing through the NPN  201  will be increased compared to the emitter current of the PNP  203 . This can be further tuned so that the two currents are substantially equal, resulting in the optimal case. Circuits  304  and  306  may preferably comprise at least one of a diode, resistor, MOS, capacitor. Although three circuits are added as illustrated in  FIG. 3B , one of ordinary skill will appreciate that only two circuits or even one circuit may suffice to help reduce the base current and enhance the collector/emitter current. 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , there is illustrated an ESD protection circuit  400  in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, instead of providing a separate bipolar transistor as described above (see  FIG. 2 ), an inherent parasitic bipolar transistor of a MOS  402  is used. The current flow in  FIG. 4  is similar to the current flow described above with respect to  FIG. 2 . Even though  FIG. 4  illustrates parasitic bipolar of a transistor, one skilled in the art will appreciate that parasitic bipolar of other devices can be used. 
         [0027]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , there is shown an ESD protection circuit  500  in accordance with even further embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , an additional protection circuit  502  having a pnp  501  and npn  503  bipolar transistors are added which together with the bipolar transistor  202  forms a SCR  504 . Specifically, the pnp  501  with the NPN  201  forms a first SCR  504   a  and the npn  503  with the PNP  203  forms a second SCR  504   b.  Also, diodes  506 ,  508  and,  510  are added to allow the current flows as will be described in greater detail below. 
         [0028]      FIG. 5A  illustrate the current flow in  FIG. 5  during an ESD event from the IO  102  to the VDD  101 . This is similar to the embodiment described in  FIG. 2B  above. Initially the current  205  will flow through the emitter-base junction of the PNP  203 , the base-collector junction of the NPN  201  and also through the diode  508 . Similar as in the previous embodiment of  FIG. 2B , if the current  205  is flowing through the base of a bipolar transistor, current  207  will also flow from the collector to the emitter of the bipolar transistor (multiplied with beta). However, in this case the current  205  turns on the PNP  203 , which creates an additional current  512  to flow to the collector of the PNP  203 . This current  512  will flow into the base of the npn  503  of the bipolar transistor  502  and since, the two bipolar transistors  202  and  502  form the SCR  504 , this additional current  512  will turn on the SCR  504  and provide a third path for the ESD current. The diode  506  is placed in the chip to provide a path for the current  512  to flow from GND  103  to the power supply  101 . This diode  506  can be placed in the circuit as a separate clamp, or it can be the parasitic diode that is inherent present between GND and VDD in each chip. 
         [0029]    It is noted that a direct connection between the collector of the NPN  201  and the VDD  101  will cause a short to the base-emitter of the NPN  201 . So, a diode  508  is placed between the collector of the NPN  201  and the VDD  101 . Similarly, the direct connection between the PNP  201  and the GND  103  will cause a short to the base-emitter of the PNP  203 , thus a diode  510  is placed between the collector of the PNP  203  and the GND  103 . So, these diodes  508  and  510  are placed to prevent the direct connections of the junctions to the VDD  101  and the GND  103  respectively and thus to ensure that the PNP  203  or NPN  201  can turn on during ESD. Alternatively, diodes  508  and  510  may preferably be replaced by transistors or resistors. 
         [0030]    It is noted that depending on the current flow, the emitter and the collector of the bipolar transistor  202  as illustrated in the figures of the present invention may preferably be switched. For simplicity in the figures the arrow to indicate the emitter and collector are taken always at the same position. Also, even though not shown, additional trigger elements may preferably be added to the circuits of the present invention to enhance the triggering of the SCRs, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,768,616 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,791,122 
         [0031]    Although various embodiments that incorporate the teachings of the present invention have been shown and described in detail herein, those skilled in the art can readily devise many other varied embodiments that still incorporate these teachings without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.