Insulated gate bipolar transistor having a coupling element

US5710444A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Daimler-Benz AG · DE

Inventors

• Horst Neubrand · Frankfurt, DE
• Jacek Korec · San Jose, US
• Dieter Silber · Eschborn, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Jun 8, 1995
• Grant date: Jan 20, 1998
• Expiry date: Jun 8, 2015

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H10D12/421

Abstract

The invention concerns a field-effect controlled semiconductor component with at least four regions of alternating opposite performance types: an anode-side emitter region, a first and a second base region connected to the emitter region, and a cathode-side emitter region; the cathode-side emitter region and the first base region from the source and drain of an MOS field effect transistor. The component also comprises an anode contact, a contact at the cathode-side emitter region and a control electrode contact of the MOS field effect transistor. The invention lies in the fact that a p+ region (36) which is adjacent to the cathode-side base region, separate, and accomodated in the anode-side n- base region (20), is connected via a separate component as a coupling element (80) with non-linear current/voltage characteristics to the cathode contact, the said region (36) being directly surrounded by the anode-side base region (20). When the field effect transistor is switched off the electrical potential in the area surrounding the supplementary p+ region (36) will exceed the threshold voltage of the coupling element, so that the supplementary p+ region (36) acts as a current sink by w…