Darlington circuit having an improved diode drain

A semiconductor device having a Darlington amplifier circuit comprising:

• a semiconductor body having first and second bipolar transistors, each comprising an emitter and a collector region of a first conductivity type and an intermediate base region of a second conductivity type opposite to that of the first, the emitter region of said first transistor being connected to the base region of said second transistor;
• a diode provided between the base and the emitter regions of said first transistor;
• a surface region of said first conductivity type in the base region of the first transistor and electrically connected thereto, said surface region forming a first zone of said diode and said first zone comprising a plurality of juxtaposed sub-zones which are at least partially separated from each other by parts of the base region of the first transistor and are connected to said parts of the base region by a contact layer which extends across the p-n junction between said sub-zones and said parts of the base region;
• a second region of said second conductivity type in the surface region and forming a rectifying contact with said surface region, said second region forming a second zone of said diode, and said second zone comprising a plurality of sub-zones, a sub-zone of the second zone being located in each juxtaposed sub-zone of the first zone, and each sub-zone of the second zone being connected to the emitter region of said first transistor.