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. 10, 2013
Filed:
Aug. 28, 2008
Akitaka Soeno, Toyota, JP;
Jun Saito, Nagoya, JP;
Gehan Anil Joseph Amaratunga, Cambridge, GB;
Florin Udrea, Cambridge, GB;
Akitaka Soeno, Toyota, JP;
Jun Saito, Nagoya, JP;
Gehan Anil Joseph Amaratunga, Cambridge, GB;
Florin Udrea, Cambridge, GB;
Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Toyota-shi, Aichi-ken, JP;
Abstract
In a reverse conducting semiconductor device, which forms a composition circuit, a positive voltage that is higher than a positive voltage of a collector electrode may be applied to an emitter electrode. In this case, in a region of the reverse conducting semiconductor device in which a return diode is formed, a body contact region functions as an anode, a drift contact region functions as a cathode, and current flows from the anode to the cathode. When a voltage having a lower electric potential than the collector electrode is applied to the trench gate electrode at that time, p-type carriers are generated within the cathode and a quantity of carriers increases within the return diode. As a result, a forward voltage drop of the return diode lowers, and constant loss of electric power can be reduced. Electric power loss can be reduced in a power supply device that uses such a composition circuit in which a switching element and the return diode are connected in reverse parallel.