Novel test structure for the measurement of electrostatic discharge pulses

A test structure for measuring electrostatic discharge (ESD) pulses using a floating gate transistor is presented. It is found that ESD pulses of widely ranging magnitudes can cause a shift in the threshold voltage of a floating gate transistor. The change in device characteristics is quantified by measuring the drain current. For a given geometry, the response is proportional to the magnitude of the ESD event for a particular range of voltages. This particular range of sensitivity also scales linearly with the capacitance ratio of the presented devices. For larger ratios of capacitance, a different scaling mechanism is observed. The sensitivity determined is 60 V.<>