Base pushout driven snapback in parasitic bipolar devices between different power domains

Modern integrated circuits still exhibit unexplored ESD failure modes. In this work, the trigger voltage of the base pushout driven snapback in parasitic bipolar devices is identified as a limiting value for the ESD concept design and the cause for damage in a 0.13 μm technology. Its strong dependence on base control by standard ESD protection elements is considered carefully. Effective countermeasures on circuit and device design level are examined by thermo-electrical device simulations and theoretical estimations.