ELECTROSTATIC DISCHARGE PROTECTION STRUCTURES FOR HIGH SPEED TECHNOLOGIES WITH MIXED AND ULTRA-LOW VOLTAGE SUPPLIES

摘要

An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit (302) in a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) (100) having protected circuitry. In one embodiment, the ESD protection circuit (302) includes a pad (104), adapted for connection to a protected circuit node of the IC, and an ESD protection device (306), which is coupled between the pad and ground (112). A diode turn-on device (308) is coupled in a forward conduction direction from the pad to a first gate (336) of the ESD protection device. In a second embodiment, the ESD protection circuit (2002) is an SCR having an anode (322) coupled to a first voltage supply line, and a cathode coupled to ground. A parasitic capacitance (2004) is coupled between each the voltage supply line and the grounded cathode