The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 18, 1995
Filed:
May. 10, 1994
U.S. Philips Corporation, New York, NY (US);
Abstract
A semiconductor switch includes a power FET and a temperature sensor for providing a control signal to switch off the power FET when it reaches a predetermined thermal condition, such as a particular temperature. The power FET consists of a semiconductor body having a first region (13) of a first conductivity type adjacent one major surface (10a) thereof, and a plurality of cells (11). Each such cell has a second region (32) of the second (opposite) conductivity type provided within the first region (13), a third region (33) of the first conductivity type formed within the second region (32), and an insulated gate overlying a conduction channel in the second region (32) between the first and third regions (33 and 13). The temperature sensor (2) is formed within the semiconductor body (10) and consists of a number of further cells (11') of the same structure as the cells (11) of the power FET. The insulated gate of each further cell (11') is electrically connected to the third region (33') so as to form a parasitic bipolar transistor having a leakage current which varies with temperature, thereby enabling the temperature sensor to provide a control signal to switch off the power FET when the predetermined thermal condition is reached.