ESD-Induced Noise to Low Noise Amplifier Circuits in BiCMOS

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) induced parasitic effects have serious impacts on performance of radio frequency (RF) integrated circuits (IC). This paper discusses a comprehensive noise analysis procedure for ESD protection structures and their negative influences on RF ICs. Noise figures (NFs) of commonly used ESD protection structures and their impacts on a single-chip 5.5 GHz low-noise amplifier (LNA) circuit were depicted. A design example in 0.18 μm SiGe BiCMOS was presented. Measurement results confirm that significant noise degradation occurs in the LNA circuit due to ESD-induced noise effects. A practical design procedure for ESD-protected RF ICs is provided for real-world RF IC optimization.