Monolithic component including a protection diode in parallel with a plurality of pairs of series diodes

A protection diode array for protecting a plurality of lines comprising:

• a monolithic component, incorporating a protection diode in parallel with a plurality of pairs of diodes oriented to have a same polarity as the protection diode, formed from a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type, the component including:
• first regions of a second conductivity type at an upper surface of the substrate;
• second regions of the first conductivity type at an upper portion of the substrate;
• insulating walls of the second conductivity type around lateral surfaces of the second regions;
• a third region of the second conductivity type at a lower surface of the second regions;
• a fourth region of the second conductivity type at a lower surface of the third region;
• a fifth region of the first conductivity type on a lower surface of the substrate;
• first metallization connecting each of the first regions to a respective second region;
• and
• a second metallizations on a portion of the insulating wall;
• wherein each of the first metallizations is connected to a respective line to be protected, and
• wherein the second metallization is connected to a reference voltage.

A self-protected rectifying bridge for an n-phase power supply where n is an integer greater than one, comprising:

• a substrate of a first conductivity type;
• a.c. supply terminals;
• n first regions of a second conductivity type at an upper portion of the substrate;
• n second regions of the first conductivity type at an upper portion of the substrate;
• n third regions of the second conductivity type at a lower surface of each of n respective second regions;
• a fourth region of the second conductivity type at a lower surface of each of the third regions;
• a fifth region of the first conductivity type on a lower surface of the substrate;
• n first metallizations disposed on an upper surface of the substrate, the i-th first metallization connecting the i-th first region to the i-th second region and being connected to the i-th a.c. supply terminal wherein i is an integer from 1 to n;
• a second metallization disposed on the upper surface of the substrate to connect the plurality of n third regions to one another to form a first d.c. supply terminal;
• and
• a third metallization connected to the fifth region to form a second d.c. supply terminal.

A monolithic component for protecting a line, comprising:

• a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type;
• a first diode disposed in the substrate, the first diode including a first region of a second conductivity type disposed at an upper surface of the substrate;
• a second diode disposed in the substrate, the second diode including a second region of the first conductivity type disposed at an upper portion of the substrate and a third region of the second conductivity type disposed at a lower surface of the second region;
• insulating walls of the second conductivity type disposed around lateral surfaces of the second region;
• a protection diode disposed in the substrate, the protection diode including a fourth region of the second conductivity type disposed at a lower surface of the third region and a fifth region of the first conductivity type disposed on a lower surface of the substrate;
• a first metallization disposed at the upper surface of the substrate to couple the first region to the second region;
• and
• a second metallization disposed on the substrate and coupled to the third region.

A self-protected rectifying bridge for rectifying an a.c. voltage, comprising:

• first and second a.c. supply terminals;
• a substrate of a first conductivity type;
• a first diode disposed in the substrate, the first diode including a first region of a second conductivity type disposed at an upper surface of the substrate;
• a second diode disposed in the substrate, the second diode including a second region of the first conductivity type disposed at an upper portion of the substrate and a third region of the second conductivity type disposed at a lower surface of the second region;
• a third diode disposed in the substrate, the third diode including a fourth region of the second conductivity type disposed at an upper surface of the substrate;
• a fourth diode disposed in the substrate, the fourth diode including a fifth region of the first conductivity type disposed at an upper portion of the substrate and a sixth region of the second conductivity type disposed at a lower surface of the fifth region;
• insulating walls of the second conductivity type around lateral surfaces of the second and fifth regions;
• a protection diode disposed in the substrate, the protection diode including a seventh region of the second conductivity type disposed at a lower surface of each of the third and sixth regions and an eighth region of the first conductivity type disposed on a lower surface of the substrate;
• a first metallization coupling the first region of the first diode to the second region of the second diode;
• a second metallization coupling the fourth region of the third diode to the fifth region of the fourth diode;
• a third metallization coupling the third region of the second diode to the sixth region of the fourth diode to form a first d.c. supply terminal;
• a fourth metallization coupled to the eighth region to form a second d.c. supply terminal;
• and
• wherein the first metallization is connected to the first a.c. supply terminal and the second metallization is connected to the second a.c. supply terminal.

A monolithic component, comprising:

• a semiconductor substrate having top and bottom surfaces;
• a pair of head-to-tail connected diode junctions implemented at the top surface of the semiconductor substrate;
• and
• a protection diode implemented at the bottom surface of the semiconductor substrate directly below a first of the diodes in the pair, the first of the diodes being interconnected to the protection diode via a portion of the substrate separating the first of the diodes from the protection diode.

A self-protected rectifying bridge for rectifying an n-phase a.c. voltage where n is an integer greater than one, comprising:

• a substrate of a first conductivity type;
• n a.c. supply terminals which receive the n-phase a.c. voltage;
• n pairs of diodes dn and d'n disposed in the substrate, each diode dn including a first region of a second conductivity type disposed at an upper surface of the substrate;
• each diode d'n including a second region of the first conductivity type disposed at an upper portion of the substrate and a third region of the second conductivity type disposed at a lower surface of the second region;
• insulating walls of the second conductivity type around lateral surfaces of each second region in each diode d'n;
• a protection diode disposed in the substrate, the protection diode including a fourth region disposed at a lower surface of each third region in each diode d'n and a fifth region of the first conductivity type disposed on a lower surface of the substrate;
• n metallizations M.sub.i disposed on an upper surface of the substrate wherein the metallization M.sub.i connects the first region of diode d'i to the second region of diode di wherein i is an integer from 1 to n;
• a first dc metallization disposed on the upper surface of the substrate to connect the third regions of diodes d'i to one another to form a first d.c. supply terminal where i is an integer from 1 to to n;
• and
• a second dc metallization connected to the fifth region to form a second d.c. supply terminal.

A monolithic component, incorporating a protection diode in parallel with a plurality of pairs of diodes oriented to have a same polarity as the protection diode, formed from a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type, the component including:

• first regions of a second conductivity type at an upper surface of the substrate;
• second regions of the first conductivity type at an upper portion of the substrate;
• insulating walls of the second conductivity type around lateral surfaces of the second regions;
• a third region of the second conductivity type at a lower surface of the second regions;
• a fourth region of the second conductivity type at a lower surface of the third region;
• first metallizations coupling each of the first regions to a respective second region;
• and
• a second metallization over the insulating wall,
• wherein a depth of the first regions, of the insulating walls, and of the third region are each larger than half a thickness of the substrate.

A protection diode array for protecting a plurality of lines comprising:

• a monolithic component, incorporating a protection diode in parallel with a plurality of pairs of diodes oriented to have a same polarity as the protection diode, formed from a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type, the component including:
• first regions of a second conductivity type at an upper surface of the substrate;
• second regions of the first conductivity type at an upper portion of the substrate;
• insulating walls of the second conductivity type around lateral surfaces of the second regions;
• a third region of the second conductivity type at a lower surface of the second regions;
• a fourth region of the second conductivity type at a lower surface of the third region;
• first metallization connecting each of the first regions to a respective second region;
• and
• a second metallizations on a portion of the insulating wall;
• wherein each of the first metallizations is connected to a respective line to be protected, and wherein the second metallization is connected to a reference voltage;
• and
• wherein a depth of the first regions, of the insulating walls, and of the third region are each larger than half a thickness of the substrate.