Electrostatic discharge protection circuit

摘要

An electrostatic discharge protection circuit is coupled to a power supply rail and a ground supply rail of an integrated circuit and includes at least one shunt configured to couple the supply rails and a trigger configured to supply on an output a shunt control voltage to a control terminal of the shunt to set the shunt in a coupling state when an ESD event is sensed on one of the supply rails. The protection circuit further comprises a voltage booster arranged between the output of the trigger and the control terminal of the shunt to boost the shunt control voltage.

主权项

1. An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit, comprising:
a shunt having a control terminal and configured to electrically couple a power supply rail and a ground supply rail of an integrated circuit in response to receiving a boosted shunt control voltage at the control terminal; a first pad configured to receive an ESD voltage; a trigger having an output and configured to detect the ESD voltage on the first pad and output a shunt control voltage in response to detecting the ESD voltage; and a voltage booster arranged between the output of the trigger and the control terminal of the shunt, and configured to boost the shunt control voltage and provide the boosted shunt control voltage to the control terminal of the shunt, the voltage booster being coupled to the first pad and being configured to draw power for operation from the ESD voltage of the first pad.