Patent ID: 8373956

Claim:
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit, comprising: a silicon control rectifier (SCR)connected between a first voltage rail and a second voltage rail, said SCR comprising a PNP bipolar transistor and an NPN bipolar transistor; one or more diodes connected in series in a forward conduction direction between said first voltage rail and the source of a p-channel field effect transistor (PFET), the drain of said PFET connected to said second voltage rail through a current trigger device; a control circuit connected between said first voltage rail and said second voltage rail and connected to the gate of said PFET; wherein the base of said PNP bipolar transistor is directly connected to said first voltage rail, to the emitter of said PNP bipolar transistor, to the anode of a first diode of said one or more diodes and to the collector of said NPN bipolar transistor; wherein the base of said NPN bipolar transistor is connected to the drain of said PFET and to the collector of said PNP bipolar transistor; and wherein the emitter of said NPN bipolar transistor is connected to said second voltage rail.