Externally controlled semiconductor devices with integral thyristor and bridging FET components

Abstract

A semi-conductor device includes a semi-conductor body with four layers of alternate P and N conducting types, these layers constituting a thyristor whose outermost layers form emitter junctions with adjacent layers. The semi-conductor body also includes an integrated field effect transistor part for bridging one of the emitter junctions of the thyristor. The source and drain of the field effect transistor include regions of the same conductivity type, one of which forms the emitter layer adjacent to the bridged emitter junction and the other of which comprises a region ohmically connected to the layer adjacent to the emitter layer and of the same type of conductivity as the emitter layer. The field effect transistor has a control electrode and a protective diode is provided in the semi-conductor body for limiting voltage between the control electrode of the field effect transistor and the semi-conductor body. The thyristor is arranged for optical ignition.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.