The novel SCR-based ESD Protection Circuit with High Holding Voltage Applied for Power Clamp

In this paper, we proposed the novel SCR-based ESD protection circuit with high holding voltage for power clamp. In order to increase the holding voltage, the floating p+ and n+ to n-well and p-well, respectively, in the conventional SCR. The resulting increase of the holding voltage of the our proposed ESD circuit enables the high latch-up immunity. The electrical characteristics including ESD robustness of the proposed ESD circuit have been simulated using Synopsys TCAD simulator. According to the simulation result, the proposed device has higher holding voltage of 4.98 V than that of the conventional SCR protection circuit. Moreover, it is confirmed that the device could have the holding voltage of maximum 13.26 V with the size variation of floated diffusion area.