Electrostatic discharge protection circuit for bypassing an ESD current
AssigneeUnited Microelectronics Corp.
InventorsYu-Cheng Liao, Ting-Yao Lin, Ping-Chen Chang, Tien-Hao Tang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit has a first power node, a second power node, an ESD detect circuit, an ESD device and a voltage controlled switch. The ESD detect circuit is coupled between the first power node and the second power node for detecting an ESD current to output a control signal at a output terminal of the ESD detect circuit. The ESD device is coupled between the first power node and the second power node for leaking the ESD current. The voltage controlled switch is used to couple a body of the ESD device to the second power node according to at least a voltage level of the control signal.
Claims17
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit, comprising:
- a first power node;
- a second power node;
- an ESD detect circuit, coupled between the first power node and the second power node, and configured to detect an ESD current to output a first control signal at a first output terminal of the ESD detect circuit and output a second control signal at a second output terminal of the ESD detect circuit;
- an ESD device, coupled between the first power node and the second power node, and configured to couple the first power node to the second power node to leak the ESD current according to a voltage level of the second control signal;
- and
- a voltage controlled switch, configured to couple a body of the ESD device to the second power node according to at least a voltage level of the first control signal.
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit, comprising:
- a first power node;
- a second power node;
- an ESD detect circuit, comprising:
- a resistor-capacitor (RC) circuit, coupled to the first power node and the second power node, and comprising a resistor and a capacitor, a second end of the resistor and a first end of the capacitor being coupled to a first output terminal of the ESD detect circuit;
- and
- an inverter, an input terminal of the inverter being coupled to the first output terminal, and an output terminal of the inverter being coupled to a second output terminal of the ESD detect circuit;
- an ESD clamp circuit, a first end of the ESD clamp circuit being coupled to the first power node, a second end of the ESD clamp circuit being coupled to the second power node, and a control end of the ESD clamp circuit being coupled to the second output terminal of the ESD detect circuit;
- and
- a voltage controlled switch, a first end of the voltage controlled switch being coupled to a body of the ESD clamp circuit, a second end of the voltage controlled switch being coupled to the second power node, and a first control end of the voltage controlled switch being coupled to the first output terminal.
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit, comprising:
- a first power node;
- a second power node;
- an ESD detect circuit, a first terminal of the ESD detect circuit being coupled to the first power node, and a second terminal of the ESD detect circuit being coupled to the second power node;
- an ESD clamp circuit, a first end of the ESD clamp circuit being coupled to the first power node, a second end of the ESD clamp circuit being coupled to the second power node, a control end of the ESD clamp circuit being coupled to a second output terminal of the ESD detect circuit, and the ESD detect circuit being configured to detect an ESD current to output a first control signal at the first output terminal of the ESD detect circuit;
- and
- a voltage controlled switch, a first end of the voltage controlled switch being coupled to a body of the ESD clamp circuit, a second end of the voltage controlled switch being coupled to the second power node, a first control end of the voltage controlled switch being coupled to a first output terminal of the ESD detect circuit, and the voltage controlled switch being configured to couple the body of the ESD clamp circuit to the second power node according to at least a voltage level of the first control signal;
- wherein the ESD detect circuit further outputs a second control signal at the second output terminal of the ESD detect circuit by detecting the ESD current, and the ESD clamp circuit couples the first power node to the second power node to leak the ESD current according to a voltage level of the second control signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.