The challenges associated with the design and implementation of Electro-
static Discharge (ESD) protection CIRCUITs become increasingly complex as
technology is scaled well into nano-metric regime. One must understand the
behavior of semiconductor devices under very high current densities, high
temperature transients in order to surmount the nano-meter ESD challenge.
As a consequence, the quest for suitable ESD solution in a given technology
must start from the device level. Traditional approaches of ESD design may
not be adequate as the ESD damages occur at successively lower voltages in
nano-metric dimensions.
In the field of electricity, electrostatics, and CIRCUIT theory, there are many discoveries and
accomplishments that have lead to the foundation of the field of electrostatic discharge
(ESD) phenomenon. Below is a chronological list of key events that moved the field of
electrostatics forward:
Microengineering and Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have very few
watertight definitions regarding their subjects and technologies. Microengineering
can be described as the techniques, technologies, and practices involved in the
realization of structures and devices with dimensions on the order of micrometers.
MEMS often refer to mechanical devices with dimensions on the order of
micrometers fabricated using techniques originating in the integrated CIRCUIT (IC)
industry, with emphasis on silicon-based structures and integrated microelectronic
CIRCUITry. However, the term is now used to refer to a much wider range of
microengineered devices and technologies.
There have been many developments in the field of power electronics since
the publication of the second edition, almost five years ago. Devices have
become bigger and better - bigger silicon die, and current and voltage
ratings. However, semiconductor devices have also become smaller and
better, integrated CIRCUIT devices, that is. And the marriage of low power
integrated CIRCUIT tecnology and high power semiconductors has resulted in
benefit to both fields.
A power semiconductor module is basically a power CIRCUIT of different
materials assembled together using hybrid technology, such as semiconduc-
tor chip attachment, wire bonding, encapsulation, etc. The materials
involved cover a wide range from insulators, conductors, and semiconduc-
tors to organics and inorganics. Since these materials all behave differently
under various environmental, electrical, and thermal stresses, proper selec-
tion of these materials and the assembly processes are critical. In-depth
knowledge of the material properties and the processing techniques is there-
fore required to build a high-performance and highly reliable power module.
This book is about the systematic application of the switching function technique for
theanalysisofpowerelectronicCIRCUITs. Theswitchingfunctionmethodofanalysisis
basedonthederivationofthevoltage–currentexpressionsofaswitchedCIRCUITcover-
ing all modes into a single expression, a ‘unified expression’. A ‘unified expression’
istheresultofapplyingthesuperpositiontheoreminordertocombinetheexpressions
of all modes of the CIRCUIT into one expression with time varying parameters.
Design for manufacturability and statistical design encompass a number
of activities and areas of study spanning the integrated CIRCUIT design and
manufacturing worlds. In the early days of the planar integrated CIRCUIT, it was
typical for a handful of practitioners working on a particular design to have
a fairly complete understanding of the manufacturing process, the resulting
semiconductor active and passive devices, as well as the resulting CIRCUIT -
often composed of as few as tens of devices. With the success of semiconductor
scaling, predicted and - to a certain extent even driven - by Moore’s law, and
the vastly increased complexity of modern nano-meter scale processes and the
billion-device CIRCUITs they allow, there came a necessary separation between
the various disciplines.
