Protection apparatus for series pass MOSFETS

US5333093A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Siemens Aktiengesellschaft · DE

Inventors

• Wolfgang Krautschneider · Ottobrunn, DE
• Mike Killian · South Burlington, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Nov 6, 1991
• Grant date: Jul 26, 1994
• Expiry date: Nov 6, 2011

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H03K17/0822
• WIPO field: Basic communication processes
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

In order to restrict the voltage across the gate oxide of an input pass-through transistor which operates as an input signal source to a MOS inverter, a MOS transistor wired as a MOS diode is connected between the source and gate electrode of the pass-through transistor. The diode connected transistor allows the use of a thin oxide device for the pass-through transistor which enables a high transconductance device to be employed while restricting the voltage across the gate oxide of the pass-through transistor to an acceptable value.