Abstract
This tutorial is an introduction to RF concepts and RF ESD clamp design. It is intended for ESD engineers who do not have an RF background to come up to speed on the concepts needed to design effective protection circuits. The RF concepts include impedance matching and smith chart basics. RF amplifier operation and load line basics are presented to give a foundation for the RF ESD protection circuit design. The tutorial will also touch briefly on RF switches and filters. The second half of the tutorial will focus on how to design an ESD clamp for an RF application. Concepts will be presented such as calculating the turn-on voltage of the clamp such that it will protect the part but not turn on during normal, RF operation. To design successful RF ESD clamps, concepts such as peak-to-average power ratio will be explained for common cellular and WiFi standards. A clamp’s parasitics also needs to be considered in an RF application so that the parasitics do not degrade the product’s performance. Finally, some testing tools will be reviewed with respect to evaluating RF products. The challenges will be highlighted and different testing practices that are used in HBM, TLP and IEC testing of RF products will be reviewed.

Learning Outcomes
Learning outcomes are understanding of the following:
• Key RF and microwave concepts such as maximum power transfer, impedance matching and smith chart basics
• How components such as amplifiers, switches and LNA’s have different metrics of performance for RF applications
• What RF parameters are needed to design a functional RF ESD clamp without RF performance degradation
• What to consider when determining the ESD robustness of an RF product