Design of a high side driver in multipower-BCD and VIPower technologies

Two junction isolated mixed processes named Multipower BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) and VIPower (Vertical Intelligent Power) are discussed and compared in this paper. Their main difference regards the integration scheme of the DMOS power output, which has the drain contact placed respectively on the front or on the back of the die. The process flow-charts and the design rules are chosen to allow the integration of the same signal components. Two self protected power switches referred to positive supply (high side driver) have been fabricated in the two technologies and the pros and cons of the two approaches are discussed. 60V was the examined class of breakdown voltage, suitable for automotive applications.