Transmission-line pulse


Transmission-Line Pulse is a way to study integrated circuit technologies and circuit behavior in the current and time domain of electrostatic-discharge events. The concept was described shortly after WWII in pp. 175–189 of , Vol. 5 of the MIT Radiation Lab Series. Also, D. Bradley, J. Higgins, M. Key, and S. Majumdar realized a TLP-based laser-triggered spark gap for kilovolt pulses of accurately variable timing in 1969. For investigation of ESD and electrical-overstress effects a measurement system using a TLP generator has been introduced first by . Since then, the technique has become indispensable for integrated circuit ESD protection development.
The TLP technique is based on charging a long, floating cable to a pre-determined voltage, and discharging it into a Device-Under-Test. The cable discharge emulates an electro-static discharge event, but employing time-domain reflectometry, the change in DUT impedance can be monitored as a function of time.
The first commercial TLP system was developed by Barth Electronics in 1990s. Since then, other commercial systems have been developed.
A subset of TLP, VF-TLP, has lately gained popularity with its improved resolution and bandwidth for analysis of ephemeral ESD events such as CDM events. Pioneered by academia and commercialized by Barth Electronics, VF-TLP has become an important ESD analysis tool for analyzing modern high-speed semiconductor circuits.

TLP Standards

ANSI/ESD STM5.5.1-2014 Electrostatic Discharge Sensitivity Testing – Transmission Line Pulse – Component Level
ANSI/ESD SP5.5.2-2007 Electrostatic Discharge Sensitivity Testing - Very Fast Transmission Line Pulse - Component Level
IEC 62615:2010 Electrostatic discharge sensitivity testing - Transmission line pulse - Component level