Design of ESD Protection for RF CMOS Power Amplifier with Inductor in Matching Network

Abstract

Due to the potential for mass production, CMOS technologies have been widely used to implement radio-frequency integrated circuits (RF ICs). Electrostatic discharge (ESD), which is one of the most important reliability issues in CMOS technologies, must be considered in RF ICs. In this work, an on-chip ESD protection design for RF power amplifier (PA) was presented. The ESD protection design consisted of an inductor in the matching network of PA. The PA with this ESD protection had been designed and fabricated in a 65-nm CMOS process. The ESD-protected PA can sustain over 4-kV human-body-mode (HBM) ESD stress, while the unprotected PA was degrated after 1-kv HBM ESD stress.