Hot Topics in ESD

Nowadays in the semiconductors industry, the bipolar transistor is massively used for various functions in modern integrated circuits (ICs) products.

Reliability issues need to be continuously addressed during technology development as technologies further advance into novel transistor structures such as FinFETs and Multi-gate devices.

This is Part 2 of an article describing the difference between the electrostatic discharge (ESD) qualification requirements for automotive and standard commercial integrated circuits.

Integrated circuits intended for automotive applications have higher electrostatic discharge (ESD) qualification requirements than those intended for commercial and consumer electronics.

This article provides a high-level overview of the Industry Council paper “Survey on Latch‑up Testing Practices and Recommendations for Improvements,” which describes the full analysis of the collected responses and lays a path for potential adaptations needed to accommodate its use in future technologies and applications.

There is often confusion about the interaction between IC-level component ESD protection and the appropriately required system-level ESD protection strategy.

This article introduces typical latch-up verification techniques to detect and prevent latch-up. These techniques rely on electronic design automation (EDA) tools to deliver the coverage necessary to identify and eliminate latch-up risks. 

When handling ESD-sensitive components, we must protect them from ESD damage.

Most ESD experts consider CDM testing to be the most critical ESD qualification test for modern integrated circuits. ESD control engineers need to know the charged device ESD robustness of all components passing through their manufacturing line. CDM measurements provide that knowledge.

The thin-film transistor (TFT) became commercially available slightly more than 30 years ago in the form of a switch for the Liquid Crystal Display.