New Industry Products

ST Offers ESD Diode Arrays in Micro Packages

December 21, 2005 by Jeff Shepard

STMicroelectronics has introduced a new series of electrostatic discharge (ESD) diode arrays in ultra-small micro leadframe packages that are designed to protect static-sensitive equipment from damage or degradation caused by overvoltage transients.

The new devices are designed for ESD protection in designs where board space is at a premium, such as cellular phones, digital cameras, MP3 players and many other portable applications, as well as in computer and telecom products. Each device in the new series offers ESD protection for between one line and five lines, meeting design flexibility requirements across a range of applications.

The ESDALC6V1M3 is a low capacitance device with two ESD diodes integrated in an SOT883 package. It can be used for 1-line or 2-line ESD protection in various kinds of application. The diode capacitance is around 7pF (Vr=2.5V), making it suitable for high speed data lines or other I/O interfaces.

The SOT883 is an ultra small package with an area of 0.6mm2, providing up to 50% space saving compared to an SOD523 package. For 2-line applications the board area requirement is only 0.3mm² per line, even smaller than for the 0402 package.

The ESDA(LC)6V1M6 and ESDA(LC)6V1-5M6 are 4-line and 5-line ESD diode arrays in a micro leadframe package (Micro QFN). Two levels of diode capacitance are available to meet different application requirements in terms of data rate, power dissipation, and other criteria; the capacitance is less than 7pF (Vr=2.5V) for the ESDALC6V1xxM6 series, and is 41pF (Vr=2.5V) for the ESDA6V1xxM6 series.

The Micro QFN-6L is the smallest plastic package on the market for an ESD array of up to 5 diodes, its size of only 1.45mm x 1.0mm providing a 44% spacing saving comparing to the current SOT666.

In order to integrate the increased functionality demanded in the next generation mobile phones, in particular – including cameras, memory cards and FM radio – new chipset generations must use the most advanced and thinnest lithography technologies. As a result, ESD is becoming more significant and ESD protection devices are still required. Designers need a device with the highest level of ESD protection in the smallest possible size. At the same time, the device must not affect the integrity of digital and analog signals.

All of these new devices provide ESD protection against surges up to 15kV, meeting the IEC61000-4-2 level 4 specification for ESD immunity. The ESDALC6V1M3 is priced at US$0.10, the ESDA(LC)6V1xxM6 series is in the range $0.20 to $0.25, in quantities of 30,000.