Polysilicon devices as a highly compatible ESD protection with modulable voltage and low capacitance

The electronic circuits fabricated in a variety of technologies for different applications are all vulnerable to the electrostatic discharge (ESD) event. In this paper, polysilicon devices are investigated as ESD protection because of the noticeable advantages such as compatibility with several technologies, low parasitical capacitance, and little noise coupling. By forming the p-i-n diode in the polysilicon layer and stacking them together, the single polysilicon diode (SPD) and cascaded polysilicon diode (CasPD) are implemented in the 0.35 mu m high voltage diffusion process. Through DC IV/CV, transmission line pulse (TLP), and zipping test, the CasPD presents as ESD protection for an S-band RF power amplifier, with high process-compatibility, modulable voltage, low leakage current and parasitic capacitance.