ESD Protection Diode: High-Speed Interface Practice & Layout
Introduction — Why ESD Design Still Fails at High-Speed Ports Even after decades of ESD design guides and layout notes, it’s still surprisingly easy to damage a high-speed interface with the wrong ESD protection diode.What used to work for slow GPIO lines often collapses when the data rate hits several gigabits per second. A misplaced via or an oversized TVS diode array can distort the signal eye or fail IEC 61000-4-2 testing before you even finish your prototype.In real-world projects, I’ve seen engineers install a unidirectional TVS on an HDMI port simply because “the breakdown voltage looked right.”On paper, it made sense — but on the oscilloscope, half the signal swing disappeared.
