Electrostatic discharge testing of tunneling magnetoresistive (TMR) devices

We report on an experimental and SPICE simulation study of electrostatic discharge (ESD) damage of tunneling magnetoresistive (TMR) junctions. The human body model (HBM) ESD failure voltage was found to be 6 V/sub HBM/, higher than the 2 V DC breakdown voltage. This difference is explained in terms of the dependence of the HBM failure voltage on the resistance and capacitance of the TMR device. A simple SPICE model for a TMR device is used to study the response of a TMR device during an ESD event.