High voltage driver built in a low voltage 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS for cache redundancy applications in microprocessors

The manufacturability and integration of a high voltage driver transistor built in a 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS process is demonstrated and evaluated. This paper addresses the driver circuit challenges for fuse programming. Given the low operating voltage nature of the 0.18 /spl mu/m technology, this driver still delivers the required programming energy, yet complying with low voltage limitation of the technology. This transistor is based on extended drain approach and does not require additional masking steps for manufacturing. The transistor is capable of operating up to V/sub d/=15 V and I/sub dsat//W=250 /spl mu/A//spl mu/m at Vg=1.8 V. The reliability of this high voltage driver is also addressed.