Structure-dependent behaviors of diode-triggered silicon controlled rectifier under electrostatic discharge stress

The comprehensive understanding of the structure-dependent electrostatic discharge behaviors in a conventional diode-triggered silicon controlled rectifier (DTSCR) is presented in this paper. Combined with the device simulation, a mathematical model is built to get a more in-depth insight into this phenomenon. The theoretical studies are verified by the transmission-line-pulsing (TLP) test results of the modified DTSCR structure, which is realized in a 65-nm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process. The detailed analysis of the physical mechanism is used to provide predictions as the DTSCR-based protection scheme is required. In addition, a method is also presented to achieve the tradeoff between the leakage and trigger voltage in DTSCR.