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:
Sep. 09, 2008
Filed:
Sep. 10, 2004
Jonggook Kim, San Jose, CA (US);
Yun Liu, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Joseph a DE Santis, San Jose, CA (US);
Jonggook Kim, San Jose, CA (US);
Yun Liu, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Joseph A De Santis, San Jose, CA (US);
National Semiconductor Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A current mirror method is provided that can be utilized to evaluate thermal issues is silicon-on-insulator (SOI) bipolar junction transistors (BJTs). The method significantly improves safe operating area (SOA) measurement sensitivity. Unlike conventional methods, the current mirror method can provide quantitative analysis of the BJTs thermal instability over a wide power range, even in the apparent SOA of the device. This method can also predict and evaluate SOA with respect to emitter ballast resistance and current crowding.