A Novel TCAD Methodology of Robustness Evaluation for HV ESD Protection Devices

Abstract Second breakdown current (It 2 ) is an important merit of Electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection devices, and it is especially critical for high voltage ESD design. The device physics involved in ESD phenomena are highly complex as ESD devices operate at high current condition within a short period of time. Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) simulation offers faster design optimization and quantitative evaluation of robustness, which can significantly improve ESD device’s robustness. However, an accurate TCAD simulation requires accurate modelling of sophisticated device physics. Due to the ESD’s high stress nature, understanding and modelling of such device physics are non-trivial. We applied TCAD 2D simulation to a high voltage Silicon-controlled Rectifier (SCR), 2D simulation to diode and 3D simulation to diode with different sizes. Based on comparisons of two ESD modes (HBM and CDM) and two transmission line pulses (TLP and VFTLP) simulation data, the simulation method is self-consistent and shows effective It2 prediction ability. The above-mentioned TCAD simulation method can help accelerate design iteration of ESD design and find more optimized ESD device structures.