An electrostatic discharge protection circuit and method, a driving circuit, and an integrated circuit

Abstract

This application discusses, among other things, apparatus and methods for electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection. In an example, an ESD protection circuit can include an ESD control circuit, and a driver-off circuit, wherein the ESD control circuit is configured to send an enable signal to the driver-off circuit and to perform electrostatic discharge to a ground node when detecting occurrence of electrostatic charges, and wherein the driver-off circuit is configured to disable a driving device upon reception of the enable signal.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to electrostatic discharge (ESD, Electro-Static Discharge) technology, in particular to an ESD protection circuit and method, a driving circuit, and an integrated circuit (IC, Integrated Circuit). Background technique [0002] The current ESD protection is to limit the electrostatic current flowing to the driving device by connecting a ballast resistor in series at the output end of the driving device, increase the electrostatic voltage that triggers the driving device, and prevent the static electricity from causing the driving device to be triggered and damaged. [0003] figure 1 Shown is a push-pull driving circuit, such as figure 1 As shown, the drive device N-type Metal-Oxid-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (NMOS, N-Metal-Oxid-Semiconductor) M11 and P-type MOS (PMOS) M12 form a push-pull output circuit, and the gate of NMOS M11 is connected to the first pre-driver The output terminal of the device D11, the gate...

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Problems solved by technology

[0005] However, the ESD protection method of connecting the ballast resistor in series at the output end of the drive device reduces the driving capability of the drive circuit when it is normally powered on, and for many application products, the output end of the drive circuit is not allowed to have a ballast resistor, such as : For low output impedance application products, no ballast resistor with any resistance value is allowed at the output end of the drive circuit

[0006] Another ESD protection method is to add a silicide block (Silicide Block) mask in the driver device, so that a series resistance is embedded in the drain end of the driver to achieve self-protection, but in this way, the silicide block increases the production capacity. The complexity of the process also increases the cost of the mask and the manufacturing process, and in this way, the distance from the drain contact hole of the driving device to the gate will increase, thus increasing the size of the driving device, so that the driving device needs Larger layout and routing area

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