Apparatus for ESD protection

摘要

Method and apparatus are provided for ESD protection of integrated circuits. The method employs dynamic gate coupling effects to achieve uniform conduction and provide much improved ESD protection for integrated circuits. The apparatus of the present invention consist of an NMOS device whose gate is connected to the drain of a field oxide device. The sources of the NMOS and the field oxide devices are connected to ground, while the drain of the NMOS and gate of the field oxide device are connected to a signal terminal. In addition, preferably an N-well resistor is connected between the gate of the NMOS device and ground. The operation of the apparatus of the present invention is involved with simultaneous MOS/bipolar conduction and offers higher ESD protection level than a grounded gate NMOS circuit.