Meeting system level ESD on-chip
Industrial, automotive, even medical: many high voltage applications require on-chip robustness against system level ESD (ISO 10605, IEC 61000-4-2). These include many variations: different RC models can apply (150pF or 330pF, 330Ohm or 2kOhm), the device can be in powered on or off state, the zap can be applied “direct” or through “air” discharge.
IEC 61000-4-2 protection met:
> 8kV for 150 pF, 330 Ohm Direct Discharge – delivered
> 15kV for 150 pF, 330 Ohm Air Discharge – delivered
EMC protection
For automotive applications such as LIN, EMC compliance must be achieved as well. Very often, the most critical specification is Direct RF Power Injection (DPI - IEC 62132-4). This puts additional constraints on the ESD protection, in particular with regards to the avoidance of transient effects. Sofics' level triggered clamps are specifically designed for this.
In the words of Frank Shulze, Business Line, Manager, Sensing and Automotive (ZMDI, now IDT):
"Automotive electronics are exposed to high levels of electrical stress, so ZMDI needs the best available ESD/EOS protection for our products. We ran evaluations of several ESD solutions for chips fabricated in a 0.25um BCD process. PowerQubic clamps were superior in the EMC test, as well as in parameters such as meeting flexible clamping voltage specifications. So, we selected Sofics to provide ESD/EOS protection for a new line of 0.18um devices that will meet our specifications, at a lower cost than building the clamps from scratch."
DPI: 36-39dBm for LIN transceiver – product proven Sofics solution