Transient latch-up of switching arrays in power management circuits

Power management for handheld devices often employ dc-dc converters which use large switching arrays to supply stable voltages. Switching of the output driver arrays produce significant over-voltage and under-voltage transients. In converter circuit these transients can cause transient latch-up failures of the NFET array during normal operation. In this report the mechanisms of these transient-induced failures are investigated.