Improved LDMOS-SCR for high-voltage electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection applications

An improved lateral double-diffused MOS silicon-controlled rectifier (ILDMOS-SCR) for high-voltage electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection applications has been proposed and verified in a 0.18 µm 5 V/24 V BCD process. The proposed improved lateral double-diffused MOS silicon-controlled rectifier (LDMOS-SCR) is constructed by adding a gated P-type/intrinsic/N-type (PIN) diode into a conventional LDMOS-SCR. With part of the ESD current discharges from the surface gated PIN diode path, the proposed ILDMOS-SCR achieves a high holding voltage of 30 V as well as a high failure current of 10.04 A, which is evaluated to pass 15 KV Human Body Model (HBM) ESD stress.