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US 2022/0021205 A1Published application
Electrostatic discharge clamp structures
AssigneeGlobalFoundries U.S. Inc.
InventorsYou LI, Alain F. LOISEAU, Souvick MITRA, Tsung-Che TSAI, Mickey YU, Robert J. GAUTHIER, JR.
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Abstract
A circuit structure includes: a network of clamps; sense elements in series with the clamps and configured to sense a turn-on of at least one clamp of the network of clamps; and feedback elements connected to the clamps to facilitate triggering of remaining clamps of the network of clamps.
Claims20
A circuit structure, comprising:
- a network of clamps;
- sense elements each respectively connected in series with a corresponding one of the clamps of the network of clamps;
- and
- feedback elements each having an input connected to receive an input from at least one of the sense elements and each having an output connected to at least one of the clamps,
- wherein the feedback elements each comprise a triggering circuit, the triggering circuit comprises a first input connected to an output of one of the sense elements, a second input connected to an output of an adjacent one of the sense elements and an output connected to at least two of the clamps.
2 more elements
A circuit structure, comprising:
- a network of silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) clamps;
- a passive element connected to at least one SCR clamp;
- a sensing amplifier connected to the passive element;
- and
- a triggering circuit comprising a first input connected to an output of the sensing amplifier, a second input connected to an output of another sensing amplifier adjacent to the sensing amplifier, and an output connected to the at least one SCR clamp and to at least one other SCR clamp.
2 more elements
A method, comprising:
- sensing a current difference, via a sensing amplifier, between a clamp in a network of clamps and a passive element connected to the clamp;
- and
- triggering remaining clamps in the network of clamps in response to sensing the current difference between the clamp and the passive element connected to the clamp,
- wherein the triggering is performed by a triggering circuit comprising a first input connected to an output of the sensing amplifier, a second input connected to an output of another sensing amplifier adjacent to the sensing amplifier, and an output connected to the clamp and to at least one other clamp of the network of clamps.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.