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:
Jun. 30, 2009
Filed:
Dec. 19, 2005
Takashi Inaguchi, Tokyo, JP;
Takeshi Ohi, Tokyo, JP;
Katsuhiko Fukuhara, Tokyo, JP;
Naoshi Yamada, Tokyo, JP;
Yoshitsugu Inaba, Tokyo, JP;
Takao Mitsuhashi, Tokyo, JP;
Takashi Inaguchi, Tokyo, JP;
Takeshi Ohi, Tokyo, JP;
Katsuhiko Fukuhara, Tokyo, JP;
Naoshi Yamada, Tokyo, JP;
Yoshitsugu Inaba, Tokyo, JP;
Takao Mitsuhashi, Tokyo, JP;
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A semiconductor device accurately monitoring temperature of a semiconductor chip even in a noisy environment, while not requiring a highly accurate detection circuit. A PTC element is bonded onto an IGBT chip. Then, a constant current flows from a constant current source through the PTC element, and an output voltage of the PTC element is detected by a voltage monitor. When output voltage increases, a voltage applied to a gate electrode by a detection circuit is decreased. Since the PTC element is directly arranged on the IGBT chip, the temperature of the IGBT chip can be monitored with high accuracy. Further, since the change in output voltage of the PTC element per 1° C. is large, a highly accurate detection circuit is not necessary, thereby allowing accurate monitoring of the temperature of the IGBT chip even in a noisy environment.