Protection circuits with negative gate swing capability

摘要

A protection circuit can include a first clamping sub-circuit, a first switching sub-circuit and a first resistive sub-circuit coupled in series between a first and second node. The protection circuit can also include a second clamping sub-circuit, a second switching sub-circuit and a second resistive sub-circuit coupled in series between the second and first nodes. The first and second clamping sub-circuits and the first and second resistive sub-circuits can be configured to bias a switching shunt sub-circuit. The switching shunt sub-circuit can be configured to short the first and second nodes together in response to a bias potential from the first and second clamping sub-circuits and the first and second resistive sub-circuits indicative of an over-voltage, Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) or similar event. The first and second switching sub-circuits can be configured to prevent the occurrence of a current path through the first and second resistive sub-circuits at the same time.