Semiconductor Device

Abstract

In a semiconductor device, a surge voltage is lowered on turning OFF of a switching element, and output current is reduced on turning ON of the switching element in a non-saturated condition to achieve a reduced amount of self-heating. The semiconductor device can comprise a semiconductor switching element, an overvoltage protection circuit, and a resistance circuit to transmit a control signal for turning the switching element ON and OFF to a control terminal of the switching element. The semiconductor device can further comprise a voltage detecting switch that receives a signal corresponding to a voltage appearing at the output terminal of the switching element on turning OFF of the switching element, and a gate resistor change-over switch that operates according to a voltage of a timing capacitor connected to the output side of the voltage detecting switch to increase a resistance value of the resistance circuit.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.