5 V-to-75 V CMOS output interface circuits

A family of CMOS low- to high-voltage output interface circuits based on a standard, unmodified low-voltage CMOS technology is described. Using only thin-oxide high-voltage (HV) devices with reduced V/sub GS/ (gate-to-source voltage) swing, it makes use of level-shift techniques to meet the constraints on the gate control signals. These static circuits permit the full output voltage swing of V/sub DDH/, while keeping the V/sub GS/ swing of the output devices within the safety limits, including during HV supply transients. Using a standard 2- mu m n-well CMOS technology, reliable, reproducible V/sub DS/ breakdown voltages as high as 120 V and 80 V have been obtained for HV-nMOS and HV-pMOS devices, respectively.<>