ESD protection with uniform substrate bias
First Claim
1. Integrated circuit component on a substrate, said component requiring a uniformly distributed voltage bias in said substrate, comprising:
- a sub-circuitry generating said voltage;
a distributor shaped as a ring surrounding said component, said distributor operable to spread said voltage to said substrate;
an equalizer surrounding said distributor, said equalizer enforcing said required uniform bias distribution throughout said substrate correlated with said component.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Protection circuitry (100) for protecting an integrated circuit against an ESD pulse is provided. The protection circuitry (100) includes a discharge circuitry (101) on a substrate (106) that discharges an ESD pulse to the integrated circuit to ground (104a). The protection circuitry (100) also includes a drive circuitry (102) that uses a portion of the ESD pulse voltage to bias the substrate (106) using a first guard ring (110) in the substrate (106), which surrounds the discharge circuitry (101) and drive circuitry (102). The protection circuitry (100) further includes a second guard ring (120) in substrate (106), which surrounds the first guard ring (110) and connects to Vss/ground potential (104c), thereby providing uniformity of the substrate bias.
19 Citations
14 Claims
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1. Integrated circuit component on a substrate, said component requiring a uniformly distributed voltage bias in said substrate, comprising:
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a sub-circuitry generating said voltage;
a distributor shaped as a ring surrounding said component, said distributor operable to spread said voltage to said substrate;
an equalizer surrounding said distributor, said equalizer enforcing said required uniform bias distribution throughout said substrate correlated with said component. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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2. Protection circuitry for protecting an integrated circuit against an ESD pulse, comprising:
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a discharge circuitry on a substrate operable to discharge said ESD pulse to ground;
a drive circuitry operable to use a portion of said ESD pulse voltage to provide current, and consequently voltage drop, for said substrate of said discharge circuitry;
said drive circuitry having a first guard ring surrounding said drive circuitry, said first guard ring operable to supply bias to said substrate; and
a second guard ring on said substrate, surrounding said first guard ring and connected to Vss/ground potential, said second guard ring providing uniformity of said substrate bias and isotropic current flow, thereby allowing said discharge circuitry to turn on uniformly and discharge said ESD pulse effectively. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification