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US 7,888,739 B2Granted
Electrostatic discharge circuit and method of dissipating an electrostatic current
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsChan-hee Jeon, Han-gu Kim, Sung-pil Jang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electrostatic discharge circuit between a first pad and a second pad including an electrostatic discharge circuit element, including a bipolar transistor path and a resistor path, the electrostatic discharge circuit element alternately discharging an electrostatic current through the bipolar transistor path and the resistor path.
Claims20
An electrostatic discharge circuit comprising:
- a first well of a first conductivity type, connected to a first pad;
- a second well of the first conductivity type, connected to a second pad;
- a third well of a second conductivity type, connected to the first pad;
- and
- a switching pathway of the first conductivity type in the third well, the switching pathway connecting the first well and the second well,
- wherein voltages applied to the first pad and the second pad are different from each other, and
- the discharge circuit is configured to alternate a discharge of a current of an electrostatic discharge (ESD) event between a plurality of paths a plurality of times, the plurality of paths including the switching pathway.
4 more elements
An electrostatic discharge circuit between a first pad and a second pad, comprising:
- an electrostatic discharge circuit element, including a bipolar transistor path and a switching pathway, the switching pathway including a depletion region, the bipolar transistor path and the switching pathway between the first pad and the second pad,
- wherein the switching pathway is configured to be at least substantially depleted under a normal operation,
- the switching pathway is configured so that a width of the depletion region is narrower than a width of the switching pathway, and the switching pathway includes a resistor path, during at least part of an ESD event, and
- the electrostatic discharge circuit element is configured to alternate a discharge of an electrostatic current between the bipolar transistor path and the resistor path a plurality of times during the ESD event.
1 more element
An electrostatic discharge circuit comprising:
- a first pad and a second pad;
- and
- an electrostatic discharge circuit element connected between the first pad and the second pad, the electrostatic discharge circuit element including a device configured to alternate a discharge of an electrostatic current between a bipolar transistor path and a resistor path a plurality of times during an ESD event,
- wherein the device is configured to include a switching pathway including a depletion region between the first pad and the second pad,
- the switching pathway is configured to be at least substantially depleted under a normal operation, and
- the switching pathway is configured so that a width of the depletion region is narrower than a width of the switching pathway, and the switching pathway includes the resistor path, during at least part of the ESD event.
3 more elements
An electrostatic discharge circuit comprising:
- a first pad and a second pad;
- and
- an electrostatic discharge circuit element connected between the first pad and the second pad, the electrostatic discharge circuit element including a device configured to control a voltage across the electrostatic discharge circuit element between a trigger voltage and a hold voltage to alternate discharge an electrostatic current a plurality of times under an ESD event,
- wherein the device is configured to include a switching pathway including a depletion region between the first pad and the second pad,
- the switching pathway is configured to be at least substantially depleted under a normal operation, and
- the switching pathway is configured so that a width of the depletion region is narrower than a width of the switching pathway, and the switching pathway includes a resistor path, during at least part of the ESD event.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.