A novel LC-tank ESD protection design for Giga-Hz RF circuits

To further decrease the power gain loss and noise figure of an RF LNA circuit from the on-chip ESD protection circuit, novel LC-tank RF ESD protection circuits is proposed in this paper which has been successfully verified in a 0.25-μm CMOS process with top thick metal. With the resonance of the LC-tank, the LC-tank RF ESD protection circuit can reduce the power gain loss and noise figure of the ESD at the operation frequency. From the experimental results, the 4.5 circles inductor of the LC-tank is the best choice for he requirement of 2 kV HBM ESD level. The proposed LC-tank ESD protection circuit will be one of the most effective ESD protection solutions for RF circuits in the higher frequency band (>10 GHz).