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US 11,923,816 B2Granted
III-nitride power semiconductor based heterojunction device
AssigneeCambridge Gan Devices Limited
InventorsMartin Arnold, Loizos Efthymiou, Florin Udrea, John William Findlay, Giorgia Longobardi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An integrated circuit is provided which can sense the drain voltage of an active heterojunction transistor under different conditions and can adjust a driving signal of a gate terminal of the active heterojunction transistor in order to limit conduction losses and/or switching losses.
Claims22
A III-nitride power semiconductor based heterojunction device comprising a first terminal, a second terminal and a control terminal and further comprising a substrate and an active heterojunction transistor formed on a substrate, the active heterojunction transistor comprising:
- a III-nitride semiconductor region comprising a heterojunction comprising an active two dimensional carrier gas;
- a source terminal operatively connected to the III-nitride semiconductor region and further connected to the first terminal;
- a drain terminal laterally spaced from the first terminal and operatively connected to the III-nitride semiconductor region, and further connected to the second terminal;
- an active gate region formed over the III-nitride semiconductor region and between the first terminal and the second terminal;
- and
- an internal gate terminal operatively connected to the active gate region;
- the III-nitride power semiconductor based heterojunction device further comprising:
- a gate drive circuit connected to the control terminal and further connected to the internal gate terminal of the active heterojunction transistor, the gate drive circuit being configured to provide a driving signal to the internal gate terminal of the active heterojunction transistor;
- a sensing circuit connected to the drain terminal of the active heterojunction transistor, and further connected to the first terminal, the sensing circuit being configured to sense a current and/or voltage at the drain terminal of the active heterojunction transistor and to generate an output signal;
- and
- an active stage circuit connected to the sensing circuit, and further connected to the gate drive circuit and to the source terminal of the active heterojunction transistor, the active stage circuit being configured to receive the output signal from the sensing circuit, and further configured to cause the gate drive circuit to adjust the driving signal based on the output signal from the sensing circuit;
- wherein, in use, when the active heterojunction transistor is in a forward conducting state, the first terminal is a low voltage terminal and the second terminal is a high voltage terminal;
- and
- wherein, when the active heterojunction transistor is in a reverse conducting state, the first terminal is a high voltage terminal and the second terminal is a low voltage terminal.
11 more elements
A III-nitride power semiconductor based heterojunction device comprising a first terminal, a second terminal and a control terminal and further comprising a substrate and an active heterojunction transistor formed on a substrate, the active heterojunction transistor comprising:
- a III-nitride semiconductor region comprising a heterojunction comprising an active two dimensional carrier gas;
- a source terminal operatively connected to the III-nitride semiconductor region and further connected to the first terminal;
- a drain terminal laterally spaced from the first terminal and operatively connected to the III-nitride semiconductor region, and further connected to the second terminal;
- an active gate region formed over the III-nitride semiconductor region and between the first terminal and the second terminal;
- and
- an internal gate terminal operatively connected to the active gate region;
- the III-nitride power semiconductor based heterojunction device further comprising:
- a gate drive interface circuit connected to the control terminal and further connected to the internal gate terminal of the active heterojunction transistor, the gate drive interface circuit being configured to provide a driving signal to the internal gate terminal of the active heterojunction transistor;
- a sensing circuit connected to the drain terminal of the active heterojunction transistor, and further connected to the first terminal, the sensing circuit being configured to sense a current and/or voltage at the drain terminal of the active heterojunction transistor and to generate an output signal;
- and
- an active stage circuit connected to the sensing circuit, and further connected to the gate drive interface circuit and to the source terminal of the active heterojunction transistor, the active stage circuit being configured to receive the output signal from the sensing circuit, and further configured to cause the gate drive interface circuit to adjust the driving signal based on the output signal from the sensing circuit;
- wherein, in use, when the active heterojunction transistor is in a forward conducting state, the first terminal is a low voltage terminal and the second terminal is a high voltage terminal;
- and
- wherein, when the active heterojunction transistor is in a reverse conducting state, the first terminal is a high voltage terminal and the second terminal is a low voltage terminal.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.