High-Speed and High-Robustness ESD Protection Circuit for Monolithic GaN Integrated Chips

This paper introduces an Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) protection circuit designed for monolithic Gallium Nitride (GaN) integrated chips. Through meticulous circuit design, it proficiently regulates the gate input voltage of the primary protection GaN HEMT within the ESD circuit, thereby mitigating its on-resistance (Ron) notably. The implementation of a high gate voltage ensures swift activation of the discharge GaN HEMT during ESD events with a Double Self-Pumped ESD protection circuit, thereby significantly boosting its 3.4 times discharge capacity and enhancing the overall robustness of the ESD circuits. Furthermore, the design mitigates the reliability issue of the main protective device inadvertently turning on prematurely due to insufficient gate voltages during ESD events.