Dummy-Gate Structure to Improve Turn-on Speed of Silicon-Controlled Rectifier (SCR) Device for Effective Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Protection

Turn-on speed is the main concern for on-chip electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection device, especially in deep submicron complementary metal-oxide semiconductors (CMOS) processes with ultra-thin gate oxide. A novel dummy-gate-blocking silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) device with substrate-triggered technique is proposed to improve the turn-on speed of SCR device for using in on-chip ESD protection circuit to effectively protect the much thinner gate oxide. From the experimental results, the switching voltage, turn-on resistance, and turn-on time of substrate-triggered SCR (STSCR) device with dummy-gate structure have been efficiently improved, as compared with the normal SCR with shallow trench isolation (STI) structure.