• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.47 no.8
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• pp.36-46
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• 2010

In multi-GHz RF ICs and high-speed digital interfaces, ESD protection devices introduce considerable parasitic capacitance and resistance to inputs and outputs, thereby degrading the RF performance, such as input/output matching, gain, and noise figure. In this paper, the impact of ESD protection devices on the performance of RF ICs is investigated and design methodologies to minimize this impact are discussed. With RF and ESD test results, the 'RF/ESD co-design' method is discussed and compared to the conventional RF ESD protection method which focuses on minimizing the device size.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.288-292
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• 2002

We propose the new type of on-chip ESD protection method for RF applications. By using the properties of RF circuits, we can use the short-circuited stub as ESD protection device in front of the DC blocking capacitor Specially, we can use short-circuited stub as the portion of the matching circuit so to reduce the and various parameters of the transmission line. This new type ESD protection method is very different from the conventional ESD protection method. With the new type ESD protection method, we remove the parasitic capacitance of ESD protection device which degrade the performance of core circuit.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.24-25
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• 2008

An Electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection has been a very important reliability issue in microelectronics, especially for RF (Radio Frequency) integrated circuits (ICs). This paper reviews design and analysis of on-chip ESD (electrostatic discharge) protection circuits for RF applications. Key issues in RF ESD protection, design methods, and RF ESD protection solutions are discussed.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.7 no.2 s.13
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• pp.172-180
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• 2003

Based on simulation results and accompanying analysis, we suggest a thyristor-type ESD protection device structure suitable for implementation in standard CMOS processes to reduce the parasitic capacitances added to the input nodes, which is very important in CMOS RF ICs. We compare DC breakdown characteristics of the suggested device to those of a conventional NMOS protection device to show the benefits of using the suggested device for ESD protection. The characteristic improvements are demonstrated and the corresponding mechanisms are explained based on simulations. Structure dependencies are also examined to define the optimal structure. AC simulation results are introduced to estimate the magnitude of reduction in the added parasitic capacitance when using the suggested device for ESD protection. The analysis shows a possibility of reducing the added parasitic capacitance down to about 1/40 of that resulting with a conventional NMOS protection transistor, while maintaining robustness against ESD.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.979-986
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• 2013

In this paper, a TVS diode which is commonly used as a ESD protector in wireless communication devices could cause antenna wireless sensitivity to decrease has been analyzed. When a smartphone doesn't have enough space to place many components, there would be its speaker near antenna area. In order to protect ESD coming through the speaker there also could be a TVS within antenna GND area. Digital audio signal which was sent to speaker and CDMA RF communication signal coupled from antenna was mixed by TVS. And this leakage current running through TVS resulted in decrease of antenna wireless sensitivity. The results of various experiments can be explained using circuit simulation. Following works will give us some insights that can reduce unwanted summation of digital and RF signal due to nonlinearity of ESD protectors.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.401-410
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• 2017

In this work, we show that the excessive lattice heating problem due to parasitic pnp transistor action in the diode electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection device in the diode input protection circuit, which is favorably used in CMOS RF ICs, can be solved by adopting a symmetrical cathode structure. To explain how the recipe works, we construct an equivalent circuit for input human-body model (HBM) test environment of a CMOS chip equipped with the diode protection circuit, and execute mixed-mode transient simulations utilizing a 2-dimensional device simulator. We attempt an in-depth comparison study by varying device structures to suggest valuable design guidelines in designing the protection diodes connected to the $V_{DD}$ and $V_{SS}$ buses. Even though this work is based on mixed-mode simulations utilizing device and circuit simulators, the analysis given in this work clearly explain the mechanism involved, which cannot be done by measurements.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.75-87
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• 2010

For two input-protection schemes suitable for RF ICs utilizing the thyristor and diode protection devices, which can be fabricated in standard CMOS processes, we attempt an in-depth comparison on HBM ESD robustness in terms of lattice heating inside protection devices and peak voltages developed across gate oxides in input buffers, based on DC, mixed-mode transient, and AC analyses utilizing a 2-dimensional device simulator. For this purpose, we construct an equivalent circuit for an input HBM test environment of a CMOS chip equipped with the input ESD protection circuits, which allows mixed-mode transient simulations for various HBM test modes. By executing mixed-mode simulations including up to six active protection devices in a circuit, we attempt a detailed analysis on the problems, which can occur in real tests. In the procedure, we suggest to a recipe to ease the bipolar trigger in the protection devices and figure out that oxide failure in internal circuits is determined by the junction breakdown voltage of the NMOS structure residing in the protection devices. We explain the characteristic differences of two protection schemes as an input ESD protection circuit for RF ICs, and suggest valuable guidelines relating design of the protection devices and circuits.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.8 no.1 s.14
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• pp.136-144
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• 2004

From the AC analysis results utilizing a two dimensional device simulator, the ac equivalent-circuit modeling of the ESD protection devices is executed. It is explained that the ac equivalent circuit of the NMOS protection transistor is modeled by a rather complicated form and that, depending on the frequency range, the error can be large if it is modeled by a simple RC serial circuit. It is also shown that the ac equivalent circuit of the thyristor-type pnpn protection device can be modeled by a simple RC serial circuit. Based on the circuit simulations utilizing the extracted equivalent circuits, the effects of the parasitics in the protection device on the characteristics of LNA are examined when the LNA, which is one of the important RF circuits, is equipped with the protection device. It is explained that a large error can result in estimating the circuit characteristics if the NMOS protection transistor is modeled by a simple capacitor. It is also confirmed that the degradation of the LNA characteristics by incorporating the ESD protection device can be reduced a lot by adopting the suggested pnpn device.

• Journal of Applied Reliability
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.251-265
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• 2011

Low-noise amplifier(LNA) is a component that amplifies the signal while lowering the noise figure of high-frequency signal. LNA holds a very important position in RF system so that it is widely used for telecommunication. Electro static discharge(ESD) is the most common cause of malfunction for low-powered components, such as Large Scale Integration and IC type LNA is weak in ESD. This thesis studies static effect of communication LNA. It analyzes ESD effect, which occurs within LNA circuit, and describes testing standard and methods. In order to find out LNA's susceptiblity to electro static, two well-recognized communication IC type LNA models were selected to be tested. Then static-induced malfunction was carefully analyzed and it suggests architectural problem and improvement from the LNA's ESD point of view.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.8 no.7
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• pp.1429-1435
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• 2004

In this work, high performance broadband amplifier MMIC including all the matching and biasing components, and electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit was developed for K/Ka band applications. Therefore, external biasing or matching components were not required for the operation of the MMIC. STO (SrTiO3) capacitors were employed to integrate the DC biasing components on the MMIC, and miniaturized LC parallel ESD protection circuit was integrated on MMIC, which increased ESD breakdown voltage from 10 to 300 V. A pre-matching technique and RC parallel circuit were used for the broadband design of the amplifier MMIC. The amplifier MMIC exhibited good RF performances and good stability in a wide frequency range. The chip size of the MMICs was $1.7{\pm}0.8$ mm2.