Electrostatic Discharge

Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) has become one of the most

critical reliability issues in integrated circuits (ICs).
Electrostatic discharge (ESD) is a charge re-balancing process
between two adjacent objects, which involves a rapid
discharge of accumulated static electricity.
The ESD is a major cause of failure during the manufacturing,
testing, handling and assembly of integrated circuits (ICs).
Human beings, wafer-processing equipment, testing and
automation equipment that come in contact with the ICs, can
generate the static charge responsible for the ESD events.
The phenomenon of ESD can often be observed in our daily
lives.
For example, static electricity can be generated due to the
friction between different materials, and the accumulated
electrostatic charge can spontaneously be transferred to the
object at lower potential; either through a direct contact or
through an induced electric field.

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ESD events usually give a mild shock to human beings.

However, if the same amount of ESD stress is injected into a
microelectronic component, it could be detrimental.
ESD events often involve high voltage (~ several kV) and high
current stress (1 - 10 A) on small electric devices.
Despite the fact that ESD events are of very short duration
(0.2 - 200 ns), the massive current / voltage pulses can give
fatal damage to integrated circuits (ICs).
Several examples of catastrophic ESD failures in the modern
ICs, are junction breakdown, molten metal/via effects and
the gate oxide damage.
ESD events can be observed in various environments: silicon
fabrication facilities, assembly and test sites, offices, home
etc.
Moreover, the various sources such as human beings,
machines, and other harsh environments can cause ESD
stress.

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Depending on the environment and the objects involved in

the ESD events, the characteristics of ESD stress can vary
considerably; the ESD failure mechanisms and signatures
accordingly have variations.
Proper ESD models can be of help in designing suitable
protection schemes and in the development of test
equipment which can effectively mimic the actual ESD events.
Technology scaling which leads to thinner gate oxides,
shallower junctions, higher doping densities, narrower
metal lines and vias, LDD, thin epi-substrates, shallow
trench isolation (STI), silicided contacts etc. has had negative
impact on ESD immunity.

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Introduction to ESD
What is ESD?
ESD - Electro-Static Discharge - is a charge balancing process
between two objects at different potential.
ESD is a transient discharge of static charge that arises from
either human handling or a machine contact.
Although ESD is the result of a static potential in a charged
object, the energy dissipated and damages made are mainly
due to the current flowing through ICs during discharge.
Most ESD damages are thermally initiated in the form of
device / interconnect burn-out or oxide break-down.
The basic phenomenon of ESD is that is a large amount of
heat is generated in a localized volume significantly faster
than it can be removed, leading to a temperature in excess of
the materials safe operating limits.
ESD Damages:
pn-junction may melt.
Gate oxide may have void formation.
Metal interconnects & Vias may melt or vaporization,
leading to shorts or opens.
Gate-oxide breakdown is another form of ESD damage.

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Why is ESD Critical?

The aggressive decrease in physical dimensions and increase
in doping in modern CMOS technology result in a significant
decrease in gate-oxide thickness and pn-junction width
Require less energy and lower voltages to destroy MOS
devices.

Figure 1: Scaling of gate oxide thickness of MOS transistors.

Figure 2: Scaling of junction depth of MOS transistors.

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Figure 3: Scaling of the breakdown voltage of gate oxide (Vox) and

the avalanche breakdown voltage (Vt1) of pn-junctions.

The level of ESD stress, however, does not scale down with
the technology.

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Principle Sources of ESD in ICs

Human Handling
A person walking on a synthetic floor can accumulated up to
20 kV.
This voltage is discharged when the person touches an object
that is sufficiently at ground.
Charge exchange occurs between the person and the object
in a very short time duration (10 ns - 100 ns).
The charging current is approximately 1A - 10A, depending
upon the time constant.
Test and Handling Systems
Equipment can accumulate static charge due to improper
grounding.
The charge is transmitted through ICs when it is picked up
for placement in test sockets.

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IC Itself is Charged During Transport / Contact With

Charged Objects
ICs remain charged until they come into contact with a
grounded surface (large metal plates /test sockets).
Charge is discharged through the pins of ICs.
Large currents in the internal interconnects can result in
high voltage inside the devices which can cause damage to
thin dielectrics and insulators.

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ESD Models
Human Body Model (HBM)
The HBM is a component level stress developed to simulate
the action of a human body discharging accumulated static
charge through a device to ground, and employs a series RC
network consisting of a 100pF capacitor and a 1500 resistor.

HBM models the ESD of a human body.

Peak current 1.3A, rise time 10-30ns.

Equivalent circuit of the human body model of ESD.

The switch closes upon an ESD event.

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Machine Model (MM)

MM models the ESD of manufacturing / testing equipment.
Peak current 3.7A, rise time 15-30ns, bandwidth 12 MHz.

Equivalent circuit of the machine model of ESD. The switch closes upon an ESD event.

ESD stress caused by charged machines is sever because of

zero body resistance.
Most ESD protection circuits can only protect HBM and MM.

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Charge Device Model (CDM)

CDM models the ESD of charged integrated circuits.
Inductance in the model is mainly due to the inductance of
bond wires.
Peak current 10A, rise time 1ns.
Gate oxide breakdown is the signature failure of CDM stress,
in contrast to the thermal failure signature of HBM and MM
stress.
CDM stress has the fastest transient and has the max. peak
current.
CDM stress is the most difficult ESD stress to protect against.

Equivalent circuit of charged device model of ESD.

The switch closes upon an ESD event.

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