Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.

Yukio Yano

Tatsuhiko Fujihira

Shigeyuki Obinata

Naoki Kumagai

Kazuhiko Yoshida

Kazunori Oyabe

Akio Kitamura

Masahito Otsuki

Shoichi Furuhata

Shin Kiuchi

Tetsuhiro Morimoto

An integrated circuit including a comparator circuit and a vertical voltage control switch element formed on a single substrate. The comparator circuit including a differential amplifier circuit having a current mirror circuit M, a differential amplifier circuit D with two current paths L and L , and an inverter INV. The output section of the current mirror circuit M is used as a constant current source for the differential amplifier circuit. The current mirror circuit M includes a load MOS transistor , a MOS transistor constituting an input section, and a MOS transistor constituting an output section. The current path L of the differential amplifier circuit D includes a load MOS transistor , an amplifying depletion type MOS transistor , and an input terminal in . Similarly, the current path L includes a load MOS transistor , an amplifying depletion type MOS transistor , and an input terminal in . The inverter INV is constructed with a load MOS transistor and a switching transistor

Integrated circuit having a comparator circuit including at least one differential amplifier

A high voltage integrated circuit is provided that includes a first region of first conductivity type; a second region of second conductivity type formed in a first major surface of the first region; a third region of first conductivity type formed in a selected area of a surface of the second region; first source region and first drain region of the first conductivity type formed in the second region, apart from the third region; a first gate electrode formed on a surface of the second region between the first source region and first drain region, through an insulating film; second source region and second drain region of second conductivity type formed in a surface of the third region; and a second gate electrode formed on a surface of the third region between the second source region and the second drain region, through an insulating film.

High voltage integrated circuit, high voltage junction terminating structure, and high voltage MIS transistor

An integrated circuit including a comparator circuit and a vertical voltage control switch element formed on a single substrate. The comparator circuit including a differential amplifier circuit having a current mirror circuit M, a differential amplifier circuit D,with two current paths L,and L,, and an inverter INV. The output section of the current mirror circuit M is used as a constant current source for the differential amplifier circuit. The current mirror circuit M includes a load MOS transistor,, a MOS transistor,constituting an input section, and a MOS transistor,constituting an output section. The current path L,of the differential amplifier circuit D,includes a load MOS transistor,, an amplifying depletion type MOS transistor,, and an input terminal in,. Similarly, the current path L,includes a load MOS transistor,, an amplifying depletion type MOS transistor,, and an input terminal in,. The inverter INV is constructed with a load MOS transistor,and a switching transistor

High voltage integrated circuit, high voltage junction terminating

A gate drive circuit device for a voltage-driven semiconductor element reduces the time to dissipate inductively stored electromagnetic energy and reduces current consumption by using cyclically charged capacitative storage to produce a control signal that is about twice the supply voltage. This permits full-ON dissipation of the stored energy after the circuit cuts off power to the inductive element. In one embodiment, the dissipation is chiefly in a voltage-regulator diode connected to limit the voltage appearing across a transistor. In another embodiment, a voltage regulator diode permits a transistor to operate in the full-on condition, while limiting the voltage across it to a value below its withstand voltage, whereby a maximum power dissipation current flows in the transistor. In a further embodiment a gate drive signal generator eliminates a voltage regulator diode from the conventional gate drive circuit device. Instead, this embodiment substitutes switching devices both on the power supply side and the reference potential (ground) side. Both switching devices include a switch and an operating section that controls switching operation. The two operating sections receive an externally generated command signal for timing the ON/OFF operation of the switches. The control technique permits both the switching and operating sections to be fabricated integrally as an integrated circuit.

Gate drive circuit having reduced current-consumption and rapid

The disclosed invention is designed to prevent the oscillation which often occurs in an over-current protection apparatus for an insulated gate controlled transistor. The apparatus improves the response in current detection, to prevent oscillation, and improves protection speed against over-current. This is accomplished by separating the gates of the main transistor and the current detector transistor; by setting a shorter time constant for the gate circuit of the current detector transistor than that of the gate circuit of the main transistor; by feeding the detection signal obtained from the current detecting means which detects the current i of the current detector transistor proportional to the current I flowing through the main transistor, to the control means; and by controlling the gate potentials of both transistors to protect the main transistor from the over-current by feeding the comparison output Sd from the comparator circuit, which compares the voltage of the signal Vd with the reference voltage Vr, to the control circuit.

Over-current protection apparatus for transistor

An insulated-gate bipolar transistor is formed of a number of cells integrally formed on a semiconductor substrate. The cells includes main cells with emitter electrodes, and current detection sensing cells situated adjacent to the main cells. Emitter electrodes are formed in an area of the sensing cells to be separated from the emitter electrodes of the main cells, and an overcurrent protection circuit is connected to the emitter electrodes of the sensing cells. When shorting accident occurs, an overcurrent protecting operation is performed such that an overcurrent is accurately detected through the sensing cells and a main current flowing through the main cells is made smaller than a short-circuit withstanding capacity of the IGBT by gate control of the protection circuit.

Insulated-gate bipolar transistor

Collective transistors in a high-current IC are arranged in the column and row directions on a substrate, with each row having two collective transistors. The collective transistors are connected in a multi-phase half bridge circuit by wiring conductors which extend in the row direction and by a pair of wiring conductors which extend in the column direction. Each wiring conductor in the row direction includes a top conductive layer which is positioned over a first one of the collective transistors in the respective row and a bottom conductive layer which is positioned over the second collective transistor in the respective row, the top and bottom conductive layers being connected to one another through a connecting hole in an interlayer insulation film. One of the wiring conductors which extends in the column direction includes a bottom conductive layer which is positioned above the first collective transistor and the other wiring conductor which extends in the column direction includes a top conductive layer which is positioned over the second collective transistor.

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Nagano, Japan

Yukio Yano