Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Takehito Ikimura

Kazuhiro Kato

Yuki Nakamura

Hiroyuki Yamamoto

Yukio Sato

Hiroyuki Tsurumi

Tooru Asakawa

Akira Kumamoto

Shoichi Imakake

A circuit that protects against ESD and avoids an excessive power voltage drop during the protection operation includes a control circuit that is connected between power terminals and outputs a control signal when a voltage between the power terminals exceeds a predetermined value due to a surge current, and an asymmetric current transfer device including a PN junction reverse-biased by the power voltage between the power terminals, that is connected in series with the output current channel of a shunt transistor. The conductivity of the shunt transistor is controlled according to the control signal.

Protection circuit

A semiconductor device for protecting loads from power surges includes a first resistor having a first end connected to a first supply terminal, a capacitor connected to a second end of the first resistor and a second supply terminal. There is a first transistor with a source connected to the first supply terminal and a gate connected to a point between the first resistor and the capacitor. A second resistor is connected between the drain of the first transistor and the second supply terminal, and a first diode is connected between the gate and the source of the first transistor. A second transistor has a drain connected to the first supply terminal, a source connected to the second supply terminal, and a gate connected to the drain of the first transistor. There is a second diode connected between the gate and the source of the second transistor.

Semiconductor device

According to one embodiment, a semiconductor device including a field-effect transistor, and a resistance element connected between a gate electrode of the field effect transistor and a connection point connected between a back gate electrode of the field effect transistor and one of source-drain regions of the field effect transistor, a voltage being applied between the other of the source-drain regions and the gate electrode.

A semiconductor device includes a first interconnect connected to a high voltage side power supply voltage, a second interconnect connected to the high voltage side power supply voltage, a switching transistor, and a protective element connected in parallel with the switching transistor between the high voltage side power supply voltage and a low voltage side power supply voltage. A first end of the switching transistor is connected to the first interconnect, and a second end is connected to an output terminal. The protective element includes a first p-type semiconductor region connected to the first interconnect, an n-type semiconductor region in contact with the first p-type semiconductor region and connected to the second interconnect, and a second p-type semiconductor region in contact with the n-type semiconductor region, spaced from the first p-type semiconductor region, and connected to the low voltage side power supply voltage.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Takehito Ikimura