5ESD Device Physics
Definitions
These are terms associated with ESD device physics:
| Electro-thermal constriction: | current constriction in thermal runaway |
| Intrinsic Temperature: | the temperature at which the device intrinsic carrier concentration reaches the doped concentration |
| Snapback: | a phenomenon when a device falls into a low voltage/high current state |
| Electrical Breakdown: | the point where a device in avalanche multiplication falls into a runaway state |
| Avalanche Multiplication: | runaway phenomenon of electron–hole pair generation |
| Avalanche Breakdown: | breakdown leading to electron–hole pair generation |
| Negative Resistance: | state where the resistance is negative |
| Negative Resistance Regime: | region where device is in a negative resistance state |
| Thermal Breakdown: | point of thermal runaway |
| Second Breakdown: | point of thermal runaway |
| First Trigger Current (It1) | current at electrical breakdown |
| Second Trigger Current (It2) | current at thermal breakdown |
In this chapter, the focus will be on topics of device physics issues associated with device physics and electrostatic discharge (ESD) [1–128].
5.1 Electro-thermal Instability
Electro-thermal stability involves the relationship of electrical parameters and temperature. We can establish an instability condition in a general system to define when electro-thermal instability can occur. Electro-thermal instability is important as the leading cause of ESD failure of devices. Electro-thermal instability ...
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