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:
Nov. 18, 1997
Filed:
Jan. 16, 1996
Tsutomu Ichikawa, Kanagawa, JP;
Sony Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A protective circuit for a semiconductor integrated circuit having a MOS transistor is constructed of a protective device having a first conducting type of protective device region provided in the surface of a substrate and a second conducting type of first diffused part and second diffused part provided in the surface of the protective device region. The first diffused part is connected to a power line of the MOS transistor, and the second diffused part is connected to a signal line between an external input terminal and the MOS transistor. The bipolar operation of the protective device allows electric charge accumulated in the power line to be discharged from the external input terminal, and also allows electric charge accumulated in the external input terminal to be discharged from the power line. Accordingly, the occurrence of electrostatic breakdown in the semiconductor integrated circuit can be prevented.