Development of Injection Probes for Electrostatic Discharge Immunity Test of Integrated Circuits

This paper presents the development of a novel injection probe for Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) immunity test of Integrated Circuits (ICs), addressing the limitations of commercial ESD generators that do not meet the high-voltage requirements of advanced IC manufacturers. The injection probe is designed to interface with high-voltage discharge guns of device-level ESD generators, enabling high-discharge level testing with a compact size and low parasitic parameters. The ESD test setup, the verification of ESD pulses and the fabrication of the injection probe are detailed. The verification results show that the probe’s output performance meets the specified requirements, maintaining the ESD pulse’s integrity without significant distortion. The paper concludes that the developed probe offers a significant advancement in ESD testing for ICs, providing a reliable solution for the semiconductor industry’s need for accurate ESD susceptibility assessments.