Circuits including a diode string comprised of bipolar stages having an adjustable pseudo beta for ESD protection

摘要

A circuit includes an input terminal and an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit. The ESD protection circuit includes a diode string formed from a plurality of P-N junction devices arranged in series. The diode string includes an input coupled to the input terminal and includes at least one output coupled to a power supply terminal. The circuit further includes a plurality of shunt elements. Each of the plurality of shunt elements includes a first terminal coupled to one of the plurality of P-N junction devices and a second terminal coupled to the power supply terminal. Each of the plurality of shunt elements is controllable to selectively couple the one of the plurality of P-N junction devices to the power supply terminal to distribute current flow across the diode string in response to an ESD event.