US20180130788A1 - Electronic device, in particular for protection against overvoltages - Google Patents
Electronic device, in particular for protection against overvoltages Download PDFInfo
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- US20180130788A1 US20180130788A1 US15/862,924 US201815862924A US2018130788A1 US 20180130788 A1 US20180130788 A1 US 20180130788A1 US 201815862924 A US201815862924 A US 201815862924A US 2018130788 A1 US2018130788 A1 US 2018130788A1
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- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 claims description 81
- 230000001681 protective effect Effects 0.000 description 7
- XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silicon Chemical compound [Si] XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 6
- 229910052710 silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 description 6
- 239000010703 silicon Substances 0.000 description 6
- 238000001465 metallisation Methods 0.000 description 4
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 3
- 239000000758 substrate Substances 0.000 description 3
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000001960 triggered effect Effects 0.000 description 2
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000010354 integration Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000003071 parasitic effect Effects 0.000 description 1
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L27/00—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate
- H01L27/02—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate including semiconductor components specially adapted for rectifying, oscillating, amplifying or switching and having at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier; including integrated passive circuit elements with at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier
- H01L27/0203—Particular design considerations for integrated circuits
- H01L27/0248—Particular design considerations for integrated circuits for electrical or thermal protection, e.g. electrostatic discharge [ESD] protection
- H01L27/0251—Particular design considerations for integrated circuits for electrical or thermal protection, e.g. electrostatic discharge [ESD] protection for MOS devices
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L27/00—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate
- H01L27/02—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate including semiconductor components specially adapted for rectifying, oscillating, amplifying or switching and having at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier; including integrated passive circuit elements with at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier
- H01L27/0203—Particular design considerations for integrated circuits
- H01L27/0248—Particular design considerations for integrated circuits for electrical or thermal protection, e.g. electrostatic discharge [ESD] protection
- H01L27/0251—Particular design considerations for integrated circuits for electrical or thermal protection, e.g. electrostatic discharge [ESD] protection for MOS devices
- H01L27/0259—Particular design considerations for integrated circuits for electrical or thermal protection, e.g. electrostatic discharge [ESD] protection for MOS devices using bipolar transistors as protective elements
- H01L27/0262—Particular design considerations for integrated circuits for electrical or thermal protection, e.g. electrostatic discharge [ESD] protection for MOS devices using bipolar transistors as protective elements including a PNP transistor and a NPN transistor, wherein each of said transistors has its base coupled to the collector of the other transistor, e.g. silicon controlled rectifier [SCR] devices
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L29/00—Semiconductor devices adapted for rectifying, amplifying, oscillating or switching, or capacitors or resistors with at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction depletion layer or carrier concentration layer; Details of semiconductor bodies or of electrodes thereof ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
- H01L29/02—Semiconductor bodies ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
- H01L29/06—Semiconductor bodies ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor characterised by their shape; characterised by the shapes, relative sizes, or dispositions of the semiconductor regions ; characterised by the concentration or distribution of impurities within semiconductor regions
- H01L29/10—Semiconductor bodies ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor characterised by their shape; characterised by the shapes, relative sizes, or dispositions of the semiconductor regions ; characterised by the concentration or distribution of impurities within semiconductor regions with semiconductor regions connected to an electrode not carrying current to be rectified, amplified or switched and such electrode being part of a semiconductor device which comprises three or more electrodes
- H01L29/1095—Body region, i.e. base region, of DMOS transistors or IGBTs
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L29/00—Semiconductor devices adapted for rectifying, amplifying, oscillating or switching, or capacitors or resistors with at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction depletion layer or carrier concentration layer; Details of semiconductor bodies or of electrodes thereof ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
- H01L29/66—Types of semiconductor device ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
- H01L29/68—Types of semiconductor device ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor controllable by only the electric current supplied, or only the electric potential applied, to an electrode which does not carry the current to be rectified, amplified or switched
- H01L29/70—Bipolar devices
- H01L29/74—Thyristor-type devices, e.g. having four-zone regenerative action
- H01L29/7436—Lateral thyristors
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L29/00—Semiconductor devices adapted for rectifying, amplifying, oscillating or switching, or capacitors or resistors with at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction depletion layer or carrier concentration layer; Details of semiconductor bodies or of electrodes thereof ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
- H01L29/66—Types of semiconductor device ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
- H01L29/68—Types of semiconductor device ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor controllable by only the electric current supplied, or only the electric potential applied, to an electrode which does not carry the current to be rectified, amplified or switched
- H01L29/70—Bipolar devices
- H01L29/74—Thyristor-type devices, e.g. having four-zone regenerative action
- H01L29/744—Gate-turn-off devices
Definitions
- Embodiments of the invention relate to electronic devices, such as electronic devices based on thyristors, also referred to by a person skilled in the art by the acronym “SCR” (“Silicon Controlled Rectifier”), and especially those designed to protect components against overvoltages, in particular overvoltages such as parasitic overvoltages produced during operation of the component, but also overvoltages occurring during electrostatic discharges (“ElectroStatic Discharge”: ESD).
- SCR Silicon Controlled Rectifier
- a thyristor is made to conduct when the voltage across its terminals becomes greater than a trigger voltage.
- the holding voltage that is to say the minimum voltage such that the thyristor remains conductive after having been triggered.
- thyristors have a high trigger voltage, for example around 3.6 V, but a low holding voltage, for example around 1.2 V, which may then be less than the rated supply voltage of the integrated circuit incorporating such thyristors. This is the case, for example, with an integrated circuit having a supply voltage of 3.3 V.
- the thyristors may be triggered and become conductive during an electrical overstress (“Electrical OverStress”: EOS) and then continue to conduct until they are destroyed, because the supply voltage of the circuit is then always greater than the holding voltage of these thyristors.
- EOS Electrical OverStress
- One aspect proposes an electronic device comprising a sequence of at least two thyristors coupled in series in the same conduction direction (the anode and the cathode of two adjacent thyristors of the sequence are connected), each thyristor having a gate of a first conductivity type, all the gates of the first conductivity type of the thyristors being coupled in order to form a single gate.
- the thyristors of the sequence are so to speak “merged” by connecting their gates of the same conductivity type in order to form a device having a single gate, for example of the first conductivity type, which will be connectable to a single trigger circuit.
- the holding voltage of the device is thus increased without significantly increasing, or even without modifying, the trigger voltage in comparison with that of a single thyristor, this trigger voltage being moreover much less than that of the cascoded structure of the prior art.
- the gates are advantageously of N-type conductivity, although they could be of P-type conductivity.
- all the thyristors of the electronic device are arranged in the same semiconductor body having the first conductivity type.
- Each thyristor has, within the semiconductor body, a first semiconductor region having a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type and a second semiconductor region having the second conductivity type and including a semiconductor zone having the first conductivity type.
- the first semiconductor region of a thyristor of the sequence is coupled by a metallization lying above the semiconductor body to the semiconductor zone of the preceding thyristor in the sequence.
- the semiconductor body forms the single gate.
- Such an embodiment makes it possible to limit the surface occupancy on silicon.
- the semiconductor body has, for example, a zone doped more heavily than the rest of the body. This may surround all the semiconductor regions and form a contact for the single gate.
- the electronic device furthermore advantageously has a trigger circuit coupled to the single gate.
- the sequence of thyristors comprises a first thyristor and a second thyristor.
- the anode of the second thyristor is coupled to the cathode of the first thyristor.
- the trigger circuit is coupled to the single gate and to the cathode of the second thyristor.
- Such a structure with two thyristors coupled in series may advantageously reduce by up to 40% the surface occupancy compared with the solution with three cascoded thyristors, while offering a higher holding voltage and a threshold voltage substantially equal to that of an electronic device having a single thyristor.
- the electronic device may be used to protect a component arranged between the two ends of the sequence of thyristors.
- the trigger circuit may, for example, be coupled to the single gate and to one of the ends of the sequence.
- an integrated circuit comprises: a semiconductor body having a first conductivity type; a first semiconductor region in the semiconductor body having a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type; a second semiconductor region in the semiconductor body having the second conductivity type; wherein the first semiconductor region is separated from the second semiconductor regions by a first portion of the semiconductor body; and a first heavily doped region of the first conductivity type formed as a ring surrounding the first and second semiconductor regions and further extending through said first portion of the semiconductor body between the first and second semiconductor regions.
- FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device
- FIG. 2 is a top view of an integrated circuit fabrication of the device of FIG. 1 ;
- FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the integrated circuit fabrication
- FIG. 4 is a further schematic diagram of an electronic device.
- FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an example of an electronic device DE.
- the device DE illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises a first thyristor TH 1 and a second thyristor TH 2 , which are connected in series in the same conduction direction between a first terminal B 1 and a second terminal B 2 .
- the phrase “in the same conduction direction” is intended to mean a connection between the anode and the cathode of two adjacent thyristors of the sequence.
- the thyristor TH 1 has an anode A 1 coupled to the first terminal B 1 , a cathode K 1 and a gate G 1 , for example the N-type gate.
- the thyristor TH 2 has an anode A 2 coupled to the cathode K 1 , a cathode K 2 coupled to the second terminal B 2 , and its N-type gate G 2 coupled to the gate G 1 so as to form a single N-type gate GU.
- FIG. 2 shows a diagram of the implementation of the electronic device DE described above and illustrated in FIG. 1 on silicon
- FIG. 3 which is a view in section along the line of FIG. 2 .
- the thyristors TH 1 and TH 2 are formed in the same semiconductor body CS, for example of the N type.
- Each thyristor TH 1 or TH 2 has, in the body CS, a first semiconductor region RS 1 of P-type conductivity having a first semiconductor zone ZSFD 1 doped more heavily (of the P+ type).
- This first region RS 1 forms the anode A 1 or A 2 of the thyristor TH 1 or TH 2
- the first semiconductor zone ZSFD 1 forms a contacting region of the anode A 1 or A 2 .
- the anode A 1 of the first thyristor TH 1 is connected to the first terminal B 1 of the electronic device DE.
- Each thyristor TH 1 or TH 2 furthermore has, in the body, a second semiconductor region RS 2 of the P type containing a second semiconductor zone ZSFD 2 of the opposite conductivity type and doped more heavily (N+ type).
- the second semiconductor zones ZSFD 2 respectively form the cathodes K 1 and K 2 of the thyristors TH 1 and TH 2 .
- the second semiconductor region RS 2 of each thyristor forms the P-type gate of this thyristor and furthermore has a third semiconductor zone ZSFD 3 of the same conductivity type and doped more heavily (P+ type).
- the P-type gate is in this case short-circuited with the cathode zone ZSFD 2 by a metallization (not represented in the figures) between the zones ZSFD 2 and ZSFD 3 , because it is not used as a trigger gate.
- the anode A 2 of the second thyristor TH 2 is connected to the cathode K 1 of the first thyristor TH 1 by a metallization lying above the body CS, and the cathode of the second thyristor is connected to the second terminal B 2 .
- the entire semiconductor body CS forms de facto the single N-type gate GU of the electronic device DE.
- the semiconductor body CS advantageously has a contact zone ZCFD doped more heavily than the rest of the body CS.
- This contact zone ZCFD surrounds all the semiconductor regions RS 1 and RS 2 and forms a contacting zone of the single N-type gate GU.
- Such an integrated electronic device DE having two thyristors TH 1 and TH 2 advantageously makes it possible to reduce by up to 40% the surface occupancy compared with the solution of a protective device having a structure with three cascoded thyristors.
- the trigger voltage and the holding voltage of such a device are respectively of the order of 3.6 volts and 4 volts for implementation in a 28 nm CMOS technology.
- Such a device is therefore highly suitable for protecting a component of an integrated circuit supplied with a supply voltage of 3.3 volts against overvoltages occurring during operation of the component.
- the component 1 may be a microcontroller or a processor core.
- the first terminal B 1 may, for example, be an input/output terminal (“I/O pad”) of the integrated circuit containing the component, and the terminal B 2 may be intended to be grounded.
- I/O pad input/output terminal
- the device DE has a trigger circuit connected in this case between the single gate GU and the terminal B 2 .
- the trigger circuit CD may be based on MOS transistors with hybrid operation, as described in the international patent application WO 2011/089179 or U.S. Pat. No. 9,019,666 (incorporated by reference). Specifically, it has been shown in this international patent application WO 2011/089179 that such transistors may also be used to form a trigger circuit.
- the trigger circuit CD in this case has a first NMOS transistor TN 1 with hybrid operation, the gate GN 1 and the substrate SBN 1 of which are connected together to the source SN 1 of the transistor TN 1 by a first resistor R 1 , and a second NMOS transistor TN 2 with hybrid operation, the drain DN 2 of which is connected to the source SN 1 of the first transistor TN 1 , and the gate GN 2 and substrate SBN 2 of which are connected together to the source SN 2 of the second transistor TN 2 by a second resistor R 2 , the source SN 2 of this second transistor TN 2 being connected to the cathode K 2 of the second thyristor TH 2 and therefore to the second terminal B 2 .
- trigger circuits for example MOS transistors whose gate and substrate are connected to earth (here to the terminal B 2 ), which are commonly referred to by a person skilled in the art by the acronym “GGNMOS” (“Grounded-Gate NMOS”), are also possible.
- GGNMOS Gate-Gate NMOS
- the trigger circuit CD may advantageously be a trigger circuit identical to that implemented in a conventional protective device having a single thyristor.
- triggering in the event of an overstress on the component during operation does not maintain a conductive state of the electronic device DE at the end of the overstress.
- an electronic device for protection against overvoltages which has a high holding voltage while avoiding a significant increase in the trigger voltage compared with a protective device having a single thyristor.
- Such an electronic device advantageously requires a reduced surface occupancy on silicon compared with a protective device having three thyristors.
- such a device may also be used to protect the component against electrostatic discharges (ESD) when the component is not in operation, i.e. not supplied.
- ESD electrostatic discharges
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Abstract
An electronic device is formed by a sequence of at least two thyristors coupled in series in a same conduction direction. Each thyristor has a gate of a first conductivity type. The gates of the first conductivity type for the thyristors in the sequence are coupled together in order to form a single control gate.
Description
- This application is a divisional of U.S. application for patent Ser. No. 15/096,975 filed Apr. 12, 2016, which claims priority from French Application for Patent No. 1561135 filed Nov. 19, 2015, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference.
- Embodiments of the invention relate to electronic devices, such as electronic devices based on thyristors, also referred to by a person skilled in the art by the acronym “SCR” (“Silicon Controlled Rectifier”), and especially those designed to protect components against overvoltages, in particular overvoltages such as parasitic overvoltages produced during operation of the component, but also overvoltages occurring during electrostatic discharges (“ElectroStatic Discharge”: ESD).
- Conventionally, a thyristor is made to conduct when the voltage across its terminals becomes greater than a trigger voltage.
- Further to the trigger voltage, another important parameter of a thyristor is the holding voltage, that is to say the minimum voltage such that the thyristor remains conductive after having been triggered.
- In certain applications, thyristors have a high trigger voltage, for example around 3.6 V, but a low holding voltage, for example around 1.2 V, which may then be less than the rated supply voltage of the integrated circuit incorporating such thyristors. This is the case, for example, with an integrated circuit having a supply voltage of 3.3 V.
- Consequently, during operation of the integrated circuit, the thyristors may be triggered and become conductive during an electrical overstress (“Electrical OverStress”: EOS) and then continue to conduct until they are destroyed, because the supply voltage of the circuit is then always greater than the holding voltage of these thyristors.
- One solution, based on a protective device having a structure of three cascoded thyristors, is generally proposed in order to increase the holding voltage of such a protective device.
- However, such a structure with three thyristors also increases the trigger voltage and the surface occupancy of the device on silicon.
- Thus, according to one embodiment, it is proposed to improve the performance of protective electronic devices based on thyristors by increasing the holding voltage without significantly increasing the trigger voltage.
- According to another embodiment, it is proposed to produce such a device without having a significant effect on the surface occupancy on silicon.
- One aspect proposes an electronic device comprising a sequence of at least two thyristors coupled in series in the same conduction direction (the anode and the cathode of two adjacent thyristors of the sequence are connected), each thyristor having a gate of a first conductivity type, all the gates of the first conductivity type of the thyristors being coupled in order to form a single gate.
- Thus, the thyristors of the sequence are so to speak “merged” by connecting their gates of the same conductivity type in order to form a device having a single gate, for example of the first conductivity type, which will be connectable to a single trigger circuit. The holding voltage of the device is thus increased without significantly increasing, or even without modifying, the trigger voltage in comparison with that of a single thyristor, this trigger voltage being moreover much less than that of the cascoded structure of the prior art.
- By way of indication but without limitation, the gates are advantageously of N-type conductivity, although they could be of P-type conductivity.
- According to one embodiment, all the thyristors of the electronic device are arranged in the same semiconductor body having the first conductivity type.
- Each thyristor has, within the semiconductor body, a first semiconductor region having a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type and a second semiconductor region having the second conductivity type and including a semiconductor zone having the first conductivity type.
- The first semiconductor region of a thyristor of the sequence is coupled by a metallization lying above the semiconductor body to the semiconductor zone of the preceding thyristor in the sequence. The semiconductor body forms the single gate.
- Such an embodiment makes it possible to limit the surface occupancy on silicon.
- Furthermore, the semiconductor body has, for example, a zone doped more heavily than the rest of the body. This may surround all the semiconductor regions and form a contact for the single gate.
- The electronic device furthermore advantageously has a trigger circuit coupled to the single gate.
- According to a preferred embodiment, the sequence of thyristors comprises a first thyristor and a second thyristor. The anode of the second thyristor is coupled to the cathode of the first thyristor.
- According to this preferred embodiment, the trigger circuit is coupled to the single gate and to the cathode of the second thyristor.
- Such a structure with two thyristors coupled in series may advantageously reduce by up to 40% the surface occupancy compared with the solution with three cascoded thyristors, while offering a higher holding voltage and a threshold voltage substantially equal to that of an electronic device having a single thyristor.
- The electronic device may be used to protect a component arranged between the two ends of the sequence of thyristors. The trigger circuit may, for example, be coupled to the single gate and to one of the ends of the sequence.
- In an embodiment, an integrated circuit comprises: a semiconductor body having a first conductivity type; a first semiconductor region in the semiconductor body having a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type; a second semiconductor region in the semiconductor body having the second conductivity type; wherein the first semiconductor region is separated from the second semiconductor regions by a first portion of the semiconductor body; and a first heavily doped region of the first conductivity type formed as a ring surrounding the first and second semiconductor regions and further extending through said first portion of the semiconductor body between the first and second semiconductor regions.
- Other advantages and characteristics of the invention will become apparent on studying the detailed description of embodiments which are taken by way of non-limiting examples and illustrated by the appended drawings, in which:
-
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device; -
FIG. 2 is a top view of an integrated circuit fabrication of the device ofFIG. 1 ; -
FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the integrated circuit fabrication; and -
FIG. 4 is a further schematic diagram of an electronic device. -
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an example of an electronic device DE. - The device DE illustrated in
FIG. 1 comprises a first thyristor TH1 and a second thyristor TH2, which are connected in series in the same conduction direction between a first terminal B1 and a second terminal B2. In this context, the phrase “in the same conduction direction” is intended to mean a connection between the anode and the cathode of two adjacent thyristors of the sequence. - The thyristor TH1 has an anode A1 coupled to the first terminal B1, a cathode K1 and a gate G1, for example the N-type gate. The thyristor TH2 has an anode A2 coupled to the cathode K1, a cathode K2 coupled to the second terminal B2, and its N-type gate G2 coupled to the gate G1 so as to form a single N-type gate GU.
- Reference will now be made to
FIG. 2 , which shows a diagram of the implementation of the electronic device DE described above and illustrated inFIG. 1 on silicon, and toFIG. 3 , which is a view in section along the line ofFIG. 2 . - The thyristors TH1 and TH2 are formed in the same semiconductor body CS, for example of the N type.
- Each thyristor TH1 or TH2 has, in the body CS, a first semiconductor region RS1 of P-type conductivity having a first semiconductor zone ZSFD1 doped more heavily (of the P+ type). This first region RS1 forms the anode A1 or A2 of the thyristor TH1 or TH2, and the first semiconductor zone ZSFD1 forms a contacting region of the anode A1 or A2. The anode A1 of the first thyristor TH1 is connected to the first terminal B1 of the electronic device DE.
- Each thyristor TH1 or TH2 furthermore has, in the body, a second semiconductor region RS2 of the P type containing a second semiconductor zone ZSFD2 of the opposite conductivity type and doped more heavily (N+ type). The second semiconductor zones ZSFD2 respectively form the cathodes K1 and K2 of the thyristors TH1 and TH2.
- The second semiconductor region RS2 of each thyristor forms the P-type gate of this thyristor and furthermore has a third semiconductor zone ZSFD3 of the same conductivity type and doped more heavily (P+ type). The P-type gate is in this case short-circuited with the cathode zone ZSFD2 by a metallization (not represented in the figures) between the zones ZSFD2 and ZSFD3, because it is not used as a trigger gate.
- The anode A2 of the second thyristor TH2 is connected to the cathode K1 of the first thyristor TH1 by a metallization lying above the body CS, and the cathode of the second thyristor is connected to the second terminal B2.
- The entire semiconductor body CS forms de facto the single N-type gate GU of the electronic device DE.
- In this regard, the semiconductor body CS advantageously has a contact zone ZCFD doped more heavily than the rest of the body CS. This contact zone ZCFD surrounds all the semiconductor regions RS1 and RS2 and forms a contacting zone of the single N-type gate GU.
- Such an integrated electronic device DE having two thyristors TH1 and TH2 advantageously makes it possible to reduce by up to 40% the surface occupancy compared with the solution of a protective device having a structure with three cascoded thyristors.
- As regards the trigger voltage and the holding voltage of such a device, they are respectively of the order of 3.6 volts and 4 volts for implementation in a 28 nm CMOS technology.
- Such a device is therefore highly suitable for protecting a component of an integrated circuit supplied with a supply voltage of 3.3 volts against overvoltages occurring during operation of the component.
- Reference will now be made in this regard more particularly to
FIG. 4 in order to illustrate an example of the application of the electronic device DE for the protection of acomponent 1 coupled between the first terminal B1 and the second terminal B2. For example, thecomponent 1 may be a microcontroller or a processor core. - The first terminal B1 may, for example, be an input/output terminal (“I/O pad”) of the integrated circuit containing the component, and the terminal B2 may be intended to be grounded.
- As illustrated in
FIG. 4 , the device DE has a trigger circuit connected in this case between the single gate GU and the terminal B2. - The trigger circuit CD may be based on MOS transistors with hybrid operation, as described in the international patent application WO 2011/089179 or U.S. Pat. No. 9,019,666 (incorporated by reference). Specifically, it has been shown in this international patent application WO 2011/089179 that such transistors may also be used to form a trigger circuit.
- More precisely, the trigger circuit CD in this case has a first NMOS transistor TN1 with hybrid operation, the gate GN1 and the substrate SBN1 of which are connected together to the source SN1 of the transistor TN1 by a first resistor R1, and a second NMOS transistor TN2 with hybrid operation, the drain DN2 of which is connected to the source SN1 of the first transistor TN1, and the gate GN2 and substrate SBN2 of which are connected together to the source SN2 of the second transistor TN2 by a second resistor R2, the source SN2 of this second transistor TN2 being connected to the cathode K2 of the second thyristor TH2 and therefore to the second terminal B2.
- Other conventional structures of trigger circuits (not illustrated), for example MOS transistors whose gate and substrate are connected to earth (here to the terminal B2), which are commonly referred to by a person skilled in the art by the acronym “GGNMOS” (“Grounded-Gate NMOS”), are also possible.
- It should be noted that the trigger circuit CD may advantageously be a trigger circuit identical to that implemented in a conventional protective device having a single thyristor.
- Thus, with a trigger voltage of the order of 3.6 volts, a holding voltage of the order of 4 volts and a supply voltage of 3.3 volts, triggering in the event of an overstress on the component during operation does not maintain a conductive state of the electronic device DE at the end of the overstress.
- Thus, an electronic device for protection against overvoltages is obtained which has a high holding voltage while avoiding a significant increase in the trigger voltage compared with a protective device having a single thyristor. Such an electronic device advantageously requires a reduced surface occupancy on silicon compared with a protective device having three thyristors.
- Of course, such a device may also be used to protect the component against electrostatic discharges (ESD) when the component is not in operation, i.e. not supplied.
- It would be possible to increase further the number of thyristors of the sequence, their gates being connected together in order to form the single gate. This would make it possible to increase the holding voltage of the overall device further. In this case, the number of elements of the trigger circuit, for example the number of transistors with hybrid operation connected in series, would be increased accordingly in comparison with the embodiment of
FIG. 4 . - From an integration point of view, all the thyristors would then be produced in the same semiconductor body CS (
FIGS. 2 and 3 ), with the anode of one thyristor of the sequence connected by a metallization to the cathode of the thyristor preceding it in the sequence.
Claims (15)
1. An integrated circuit, comprising:
a semiconductor body having a first conductivity type; and
a first thyristor formed in said semiconductor body, comprising:
a first semiconductor region in the semiconductor body having a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type, the first semiconductor region forming an anode of the first thyristor;
a second semiconductor region in the semiconductor body having the second conductivity type, the first and second semiconductor regions separated from each other by a portion of the semiconductor body, the second semiconductor region forming a cathode of the first thyristor; and
wherein the semiconductor body forms a cathode control gate of the first thyristor.
2. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , further comprising a first heavily doped region of the first conductivity type formed in said portion of the semiconductor body and configured to provide a contact for said cathode control gate.
3. The integrated circuit of claim 2 , wherein said first heavily doped region of the first conductivity type surrounds the first and second semiconductor regions and passes between the first and second semiconductor regions.
4. The integrated circuit of claim 2 , further comprising:
a second heavily doped region of the second conductivity type formed within the first semiconductor region; and
a third heavily doped region of the first conductivity type formed within the second semiconductor region.
5. The integrated circuit of claim 4 , further comprising a fourth heavily doped region of the second conductivity type formed within the second semiconductor region and in contact with the third heavily doped region.
6. The integrated circuit of claim 5 , wherein the fourth heavily doped region is shorted to the third heavily doped region.
7. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , further comprising a second thyristor formed in said semiconductor body, comprising:
a third semiconductor region in the semiconductor body having the second conductivity type, the third semiconductor region forming an anode of the second thyristor;
a fourth semiconductor region in the semiconductor body having the second conductivity type, the third and fourth semiconductor regions separated from each other by the portion of the semiconductor body, the fourth semiconductor region forming a cathode of the second thyristor; and
wherein the semiconductor body forms a cathode control gate of both the first and second thyristors.
8. The integrated circuit of claim 7 , further comprising an electrical connection configured to connect the cathode of the first thyristor to the anode of the second thyristor.
9. The integrated circuit of claim 7 , further comprising:
a first heavily doped region of the first conductivity type formed in said portion of the semiconductor body separating the first and second semiconductor regions and configured to provide a contact for said cathode control gate of the first thyristor; and
a second heavily doped region of the first conductivity type formed in said portion of the semiconductor body separating the third and fourth semiconductor regions and configured to provide a contact for said cathode control gate of the second thyristor.
10. The integrated circuit of claim 9 , further comprising:
a third heavily doped region of the first conductivity type formed in a portion of the semiconductor body separating the first and second thiyristors and configured to provide a contact for said cathode control gate of the first and second thyristors.
11. An integrated circuit, comprising:
a semiconductor body having a first conductivity type;
a first semiconductor region in the semiconductor body having a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type;
a second semiconductor region in the semiconductor body having the second conductivity type;
wherein the first semiconductor region is separated from the second semiconductor regions by a first portion of the semiconductor body; and
a first heavily doped region of the first conductivity type formed as a ring surrounding the first and second semiconductor regions and further extending through said first portion of the semiconductor body between the first and second semiconductor regions.
12. The integrated circuit of claim 11 , further comprising:
a second heavily doped region of the second conductivity type formed within the first semiconductor region; and
a third heavily doped region of the first conductivity type formed within the second semiconductor region.
13. The integrated circuit of claim 12 , further comprising a fourth heavily doped region of the second conductivity type formed within the second semiconductor region and in contact with the third heavily doped region.
14. The integrated circuit of claim 13 , wherein the fourth heavily doped region is shorted to the third heavily doped region.
15. The integrated circuit of claim 12 , wherein the second heavily doped region is an anode terminal of a thyristor, the third heavily doped region is a cathode terminal of the thyristor and the first heavily doped region is a control gate of the thyristor.
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US15/862,924 US20180130788A1 (en) | 2015-11-19 | 2018-01-05 | Electronic device, in particular for protection against overvoltages |
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
FR1561135A FR3044166B1 (en) | 2015-11-19 | 2015-11-19 | ELECTRONIC DEVICE, ESPECIALLY FOR PROTECTION AGAINST OVERVOLTAGES |
FR1561135 | 2015-11-19 | ||
US15/096,975 US9899366B2 (en) | 2015-11-19 | 2016-04-12 | Electronic device, in particular for protection against overvoltages |
US15/862,924 US20180130788A1 (en) | 2015-11-19 | 2018-01-05 | Electronic device, in particular for protection against overvoltages |
Related Parent Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
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US15/096,975 Division US9899366B2 (en) | 2015-11-19 | 2016-04-12 | Electronic device, in particular for protection against overvoltages |
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US20180130788A1 true US20180130788A1 (en) | 2018-05-10 |
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US15/096,975 Active US9899366B2 (en) | 2015-11-19 | 2016-04-12 | Electronic device, in particular for protection against overvoltages |
US15/862,924 Abandoned US20180130788A1 (en) | 2015-11-19 | 2018-01-05 | Electronic device, in particular for protection against overvoltages |
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US15/096,975 Active US9899366B2 (en) | 2015-11-19 | 2016-04-12 | Electronic device, in particular for protection against overvoltages |
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US (2) | US9899366B2 (en) |
CN (2) | CN205609525U (en) |
FR (1) | FR3044166B1 (en) |
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FR3044166B1 (en) * | 2015-11-19 | 2018-03-23 | Stmicroelectronics Sa | ELECTRONIC DEVICE, ESPECIALLY FOR PROTECTION AGAINST OVERVOLTAGES |
FR3093598B1 (en) * | 2019-03-05 | 2023-08-04 | St Microelectronics Srl | Surge protection device |
CN113838847B (en) * | 2021-09-02 | 2023-04-07 | 电子科技大学 | Bidirectional DCSCR device for low-voltage ESD protection |
Citations (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US8331069B2 (en) * | 2009-04-27 | 2012-12-11 | Stmicroelectronics Sa | Structure for protecting an integrated circuit against electrostatic discharges |
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FR2734429B1 (en) * | 1995-05-19 | 1997-08-01 | Sgs Thomson Microelectronics | SWITCH AND SUPPLY-APPLICATION MODULE FOR STARTING A FLUORESCENT TUBE |
FR2773021B1 (en) * | 1997-12-22 | 2000-03-10 | Sgs Thomson Microelectronics | NORMALLY CLOSED BIDIRECTIONAL SWITCH |
FR2808621B1 (en) * | 2000-05-05 | 2002-07-19 | St Microelectronics Sa | SINGLE CONTROL MONOLITHIC COMPONENT FOR A MIXED BRIDGE |
US6594132B1 (en) * | 2000-05-17 | 2003-07-15 | Sarnoff Corporation | Stacked silicon controlled rectifiers for ESD protection |
US20030076636A1 (en) * | 2001-10-23 | 2003-04-24 | Ming-Dou Ker | On-chip ESD protection circuit with a substrate-triggered SCR device |
KR100831269B1 (en) * | 2006-12-29 | 2008-05-22 | 동부일렉트로닉스 주식회사 | Device for protecting semiconductor ics from electrostatic discharge |
US7773356B2 (en) * | 2008-03-19 | 2010-08-10 | Fairchild Korea Semiconductor Ltd | Stacked SCR with high holding voltage |
US9019666B2 (en) | 2010-01-22 | 2015-04-28 | Stmicroelectronics S.A. | Electronic device, in particular for protection against electrostatic discharges, and method for protecting a component against electrostatic discharges |
FR3044166B1 (en) * | 2015-11-19 | 2018-03-23 | Stmicroelectronics Sa | ELECTRONIC DEVICE, ESPECIALLY FOR PROTECTION AGAINST OVERVOLTAGES |
-
2015
- 2015-11-19 FR FR1561135A patent/FR3044166B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
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2016
- 2016-04-12 US US15/096,975 patent/US9899366B2/en active Active
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2018
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Patent Citations (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US8331069B2 (en) * | 2009-04-27 | 2012-12-11 | Stmicroelectronics Sa | Structure for protecting an integrated circuit against electrostatic discharges |
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FR3044166A1 (en) | 2017-05-26 |
FR3044166B1 (en) | 2018-03-23 |
US9899366B2 (en) | 2018-02-20 |
CN106783839A (en) | 2017-05-31 |
CN106783839B (en) | 2019-12-13 |
US20170148780A1 (en) | 2017-05-25 |
CN205609525U (en) | 2016-09-28 |
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