Opportunities to improve ESD protection simulation based on voltage-dependent dynamic model

Dynamic model of electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection devices presents many advantages to simulate the response of these components when they are submitted to very high-level transient impulsions such as electromagnetic pulses (EMP) residue. However, a major issue with these models is that they are defined for a specific operating point and in many cases the operating point of components can change during EMP event. In this article, a way to improve dynamic simulation by building voltage dependent RLC equivalent models will be explored to overcome this limitation and simulate complex circuit such as a snapback transient voltage suppressor (TVS) parallel to a capacitor.