A double snapback SCR ESD protection scheme for 28 nm CMOS process

This work proposes a novel double-snapback silicon-controlled rectifier (DS-SCR) electrostatic discharge protection (ESD) device by using an embedded GGNMOS structure. With the double snapback mechanism, the proposed DS-SCR achieves a high ESD robustness with a current level of 33.0 mA/μm. In addition, the low trigger and high holding voltages make the DS-SCR structure to have high potential for using in 28 nm CMOS process ESD protection. We also conducted detailed studies on the mechanisms and geometry effects of this newly proposed structure via TCAD simulations and experimental validations.