Protection Mechanism for High Frequency Circuits in Automotive Applications

Abstract

Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) has become one of the most critical reliability issues in High Frequency (HF) circuits in automotive electronics. Therefore, there have been extensive research efforts seeking to improve ESD protection capabilities; the goal is to achieve highly reliable circuits and products in the presence of ESD threats. However, the continuous scaling of technology and the introduction of new device concepts and materials into the mainstream CMOS technology has brought many new ESD challenges. In this dissertation a variety of ESD issues in advanced CMOS technology are addressed in breadth, covering topics that range from fundamental device physics to circuit design engineering, providing the guidelines needed to develop robust and transparent ESD protection circuits.