Diode with current sensor
AssigneeSemiconductor Components Industries, LLC
InventorsXiang Zeng, Xiaoli Wu, Hao Wang, Thomas Neyer, Hocheol Jang, Sungkyu Song
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A diode with a current sensor is disclosed. The diode includes an anode region, a cathode region, and a channel-stop region. The diode further includes a sense resistor that is connected between the channel-stop region and the cathode region. When the diode is forward biased, a sense current flows through the sense resistor that corresponds to the forward current flowing through the diode. When the diode is reverse biased, the channel-stop region helps prevent a breakdown condition in the diode.
Claims20
A diode comprising:
- a substrate;
- a cathode pad disposed on a bottom surface of the substrate;
- an anode pad disposed on a first portion of a top surface of the substrate, the top surface being opposite the bottom surface;
- a channel-stop pad disposed on a second portion of the top surface of the substrate;
- and
- a sense resistor electrically connected between the channel-stop pad and the cathode pad, the sense resistor configured to conduct a portion of a forward current after the forward current has passed through a main PN junction of the diode.
A method for determining a forward current through a diode, the method comprising:
- coupling a sense resistor between a cathode pad and a channel-stop pad of the diode;
- applying a forward voltage between an anode pad of the diode and the cathode pad of the diode to forward bias the diode to conduct the forward current through a main junction of the diode;
- measuring a sense current through the sense resistor, the sense current being a portion of the forward current after the forward current has passed through a main junction of the diode;
- and
- determining a forward current through the diode based on the measurement of the sense current.
A power electronics system comprising:
- a switching device;
- an inductor coupled to the switching device so that the inductor is charged when the switching device is in an ON state and discharged when the switching device is in an OFF state;
- a diode coupled to the inductor and configured to conduct a forward current when the inductor is discharged, the diode including a sense resistor electrically connected between a cathode pad and a channel-stop pad of the diode;
- and
- a monitoring circuit coupled to the sense resistor and configured to measure the current discharged through the diode based on a sense voltage across the sense resistor.
A diode comprising:
- a substrate that includes:
- a cathode region to which a cathode pad is directly connected to on a bottom surface of the substrate;
- an anode region to which an anode pad is directly connected to on a first portion of a top surface of the substrate;
- a channel-stop region to which a channel-stop pad is directly connected to on a second portion of the top surface of the substrate;
- and
- a drift region between the channel-stop region, the cathode region and the anode region;
- and
- a sense resistor electrically connected between the channel-stop pad and the cathode pad, wherein when the diode is forward biased by a forward voltage between the anode pad and the cathode pad, a main current flows through the drift region between the anode region and the cathode region and a sense current flows through the drift region between the anode region and the channel-stop region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.