Low-capacitance electrostatic discharge protection diodes
First Claim
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1. An input buffer comprising:
- a pad to receive an input signal;
a first diode comprising a first terminal coupled to the pad, and a second terminal coupled to receive a first supply voltage; and
a second diode comprising a first terminal coupled to receive a second supply voltage, and a second terminal coupled to the pad,wherein the first and second diodes include a lower level metal layer and an adjacent higher level metal layer with corresponding lower level metal lines and corresponding adjacent higher level metal lines respectively, and wherein the lower level metal lines and the adjacent higher level metal lines being parallel to one another in a diode region of each of the first and second diodes.
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Abstract
A reduced capacitance diode. A first conductive layer provides conductive interconnects for pad and supply diffusion regions in a diode. A second conductive layer includes a first portion to couple the pad diffusion regions to a pad and a second portion to couple the supply diffusion regions to a voltage supply. Lines of the first and second conductive layers are substantially parallel to each other in a diode region of the diode. Further, for one aspect, a tap for the diode to be coupled to a supply is wider than a minimum width.
10 Citations
32 Claims
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1. An input buffer comprising:
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a pad to receive an input signal; a first diode comprising a first terminal coupled to the pad, and a second terminal coupled to receive a first supply voltage; and a second diode comprising a first terminal coupled to receive a second supply voltage, and a second terminal coupled to the pad, wherein the first and second diodes include a lower level metal layer and an adjacent higher level metal layer with corresponding lower level metal lines and corresponding adjacent higher level metal lines respectively, and wherein the lower level metal lines and the adjacent higher level metal lines being parallel to one another in a diode region of each of the first and second diodes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An apparatus comprising:
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a pad to receive an input signal; an input buffer coupled to the pad to receive the input signal; a first diode comprising a first terminal coupled to the pad and the input buffer, and a second terminal coupled to receive a first supply voltage; and a second diode comprising a first terminal coupled to receive a second supply voltage, and a second terminal coupled to the pad and the input buffer, wherein the first and second diodes include a lower level metal layer and an adjacent higher level metal layer with corresponding lower level metal lines and corresponding adjacent higher level metal lines respectively, and wherein the lower level metal lines and the adjacent higher level metal lines being parallel to one another in a diode region of each of the first and second diodes. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection diode comprising:
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a first supply diffusion region; a first metal layer to provide interconnects for pad diffusion regions and supply diffusion regions including the first supply diffusion region; and a second metal layer above the first metal layer and coupled to the first metal layer through a via, the second metal layer being parallel to the first metal layer in a diode region of the ESD protection diode. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification