A review of RESURF technology

RESURF (Reduced Surface Field) technology is one of the most widely-used methods for the design of lateral high-voltage, low on-resistance devices. The technique has allowed the integration of HV devices, ranging from 20 V to 1200 V, with bipolar and MOS transistors. A technical review is given on the technology as developed during the last 20 years. The paper discusses the invention and its application in discrete devices, in Junction-Isolated IC's and SOI, and as Multiple Resurf. It includes an evaluation of topics like breakdown, on-resistance, high-side and high-current effects and reliability.