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High ESD robustness

Sofics has supported many companies to enhance the robustness level of their ICs beyond the standard 2kV HBM.

Typical applications with higher ESD robustness include automotive electronics, medical devices. But also some consumer products need higher robustness like anything with USB, HDMI, DisplayPort interfaces. This includes higher robustness against HBM, MM or CDM. But in several cases the customer required on-chip robustness against system level ESD protection (IEC 61000-4-2).

Sofics ESD technology can easily scale to any ESD robustness level. 4kV and 6kV HBM for some medical applications. 6kV HBM for timing controller applications. 8kV HBM for HDMI/DisplayPort applications. 6kV and 8kV IEC 61000-4-2 for automotive applications

The failure current of the proprietary SCR devices can be increased simply by making the device larger. The plot shows this linear behavior.

TLPHBMIEC 61000-4-2Width x HeightArea
2 A2.8 kV35um x 22um770 um²
3.6 A5 kV35um x 38um1330 um²
7 A10 kV60um x 40um2400 um²
8 kV120um x 54um6480 um²
12 kV175um x 54um9450 um²

Example robustness levels in TSMC 65nm CMOS technology for 1.2V Diode Triggered SCR devices of different layout sizes.

ProcessPadESD robustnessLeakage
TSMC 180nm 1.8V I/O> 5 kV HBM< 200 pA
TSMC 180nm5V I/O> 8 kV HBM< 5 nA
TowerSemi 350nm4.5V I/O> 8 kV HBM< 100 pA
TowerSemi 350nm4.5V rail> 8 kV HBM< 100 pA
ProcessPadESD robustnessLeakage
TSMC 130nm 1.2V rail> 370 V HBM< 50 pA
TSMC 130nm3.3V rail> 4.5 kV HBM< 10 nA
TSMC 130nm3.3V I/O> 8 kV HBM< 1 nA
UMC 130nm1.2V I/O> 4 kV HBM< 10 nA
TSMC 65nm1.2V rail> 7 kV HBM< 1 nA
UMC 65nm2.5V rail> 7.5 kV HBM< 10 nA
ProcessPadESD robustnessLeakage
TSMC 40nm 0.9V I/O> 5 kV HBM< 10 pA
TSMC 40nm1.2 I/O> 5 kV HBM< 10 pA
TSMC 40nm3.3V I/O> 4 kV HBM< 500 pA
TSMC 28nm0.9V I/O> 8 kV IEC 61000-4-2< 10 nA
TSMC 22nm0.8V rail> 8 kV HBM< 10 nA
TSMC 22nm0.8V I/O> 8 kV HBM< 10 nA
TSMC 22nm1.8V rail> 8 kV HBM< 10 nA
TSMC 22nm3.3V rail> 8 kV HBM< 10 nA
TSMC 22nm3.3V I/O> 8 kV IEC 61000-4-2< 10 nA
ProcessPadESD robustnessLeakage
TSMC 16nm 1.8V rail> 4 kV HBM< 500 pA
TSMC 16nm1.2V I/O> 4 kV IEC 61000-4-2< 50 pA
ProcessPadHolding VoltageESD robustnessArea
TSMC 250nm BCD2.5V I/O49V> 5 kV HBM36800 um²
TSMC 250nm BCDLIN I/O27V> 4 kV HBM4400 um²
TSMC 250nm BCDLIN I/O27V> 9 kV IEC 61000-4-215500 um²
TSMC 250nm BCDLIN I/O27V> 13.5 kV IEC 61000-4-229500 um²
UMC 180nm BCD24V I/O27V> 6.5 kV HBM44000 um²
TSMC 180nm BCD18V I/O23.5V> 4 kV IEC 61000-4-233450 um²
TSMC 180nm BCDIndustrial CAN25V> 10 kV HBM96000 um²
TSMC 180nm BCD55V I/O50V> 4.8 kV IEC 61000-4-264500 um²

Blog article “Applying system level ESD on ICs
Blog article “ESD clamps for high voltage, BCD processes
Blog article “Optimized on-Chip ESD protection to enable high-speed ethernet in cars
Blog article “New opportunities for automotive LIN interfaces”
Press release about cooperation with Tower Semi