Transient latch-up using an improved bi-polar trigger

This paper reports the results of initiating transient latch-up (TLU) using a new improved trigger. The trigger produced by capacitive discharge has a high energy, under-damped bi-polar waveform similar in shape to the machine model (MM) but of lower voltage and frequency. High pin count parts from advanced deep sub-micron technologies were stimulated by combining V/sub cc/ supply pin excitation with dynamic component operation using active vectors at low clock frequency. Weak product that appears extremely robust to an over-damped uni-polar trigger was confirmed to be very susceptible to negative-going, under-damped bi-polar transients. The trigger avoids the risk of MM electrostatic discharge (ESD) damage; but combines elements of voltage over-stress, current injection, and slew rate into one stress application. The low resonant frequency facilitates straightforward integration into very high pin count testers.