A novel LC-Tank ESD protection design for giga-Hz RF circuits

Abstract

To further decrease the power gain loss and noise figure of RF LNA circuit from the on-chip ESD protection circuit. A novel LC-tank RF ESD protection circuits is proposed in this paper and has been successfully verified in a 0.25-mum CMOS process with top thick metal. With the resonance of LC-tank, the LC-tank RF ESD protection circuit can reduce the power gain loss and noise figure at the operation frequency from ESD device. From the experimental results, the 4.5 circles inductor of LC-tank is the best choice for the requirement of 2kV HBM ESD level. The proposed LC-tank ESD protection circuit will be one of the most effective ESD protection solutions for RF circuits in higher frequency band (>10GHz).