ESD-protection design with extra low-leakage-current diode string for RF circuits in SiGeBiCMOS process

Abstract

Two low-leakage resistor-shunted diode strings Eire developed for use as power clamps in silicon-germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS technology. The resistors are used to bias the deep N-wells, significantly reducing the leakage current from the diode string. A methodology for selecting the values of the bias resistors is presented. For further reduction of the leakage current, an alternate design is presented: the resistor-shunted trigger bipolar power clamp. The power-clamp circuits presented herein may be used in cooperation with small double diodes at the I/O pins to achieve whole-chip electrostatic-discharge protection for RF ICs in SiGe processes.