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:
Jan. 11, 2011
Filed:
Sep. 23, 2008
David M. Giorgi, Solana Beach, CA (US);
Tajchai Navapanich, San Diego, CA (US);
David M. Giorgi, Solana Beach, CA (US);
Tajchai Navapanich, San Diego, CA (US);
OptiSwitch Technology Corporation, San Diego, CA (US);
Abstract
A Break Over Diode ('BOD') device is a gate-less two terminal high power semiconductor switch in which transitions from a blocking state to a conducting state are triggered by a dV/dt pulse to the anode. The BOD device can be thought of as two cross-coupled PNP and NPN transistors, and includes both anode and cathode shorts which reduce the gain of the NPN and PNP transistors by shunting some current away from their bases directly to their emitters, thereby improving blocking. Moreover, the anode and cathode shorts in conjunction with the device blocking junction form PN diodes which are distributed throughout the bulk of the material and function as anti-parallel diodes to the base-emitter junctions of the PNP and NPN transistors, which enables the BOD device to handle a larger current reversal for a longer period of time. The P base layer may be made thin to decrease the voltage fall time from full blocking to full conduction, and the cathode and anode shorts may be provided in a honeycomb pattern.