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US 6,144,085 AGranted
Power transistor device having hot-location and cool-location temperature sensors
AssigneeU.S. Philips Corporation
InventorRichard J. Barker
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AssigneeU.S. Philips Corporation
InventorRichard J. Barker
Estimating the term…
A power transistor device, for example a MOSFET or an IGBT, comprises a semiconductor body (10) which accommodates an array (11) of parallel device cells (1a) in which heat is generated in operation of the device. A hot-location temperature sensor (Mh) is located inside the array (11), and a cool-location temperature sensor (Mc) is located outside the array (11). These sensors each comprises at least one sensor cell (1b; 1c) which is of the same transistor type as the device cells (1a). The sensor cells (1b; 1c) have a cellular region structure (12,13,14,15) similar to that of the device cells (1a), but each sensor (Mh; Mc) has a respective output electrode (31; 32) separate from electrodes (22,23,25) of the device cells (1a). A detection circuit (100,101) is coupled to the respective output electrodes (31; 32) of the hot-location and cool-location temperature sensors (Mh; Mc) for detecting a temperature difference between the hot and cool locations by comparing voltage signals (dV(T)) from the output electrodes (31; 32).
A power transistor device comprising a semiconductor body which accommodates an array of parallel device cells of a transistor type, heat being generated in the device cells in operation of the device, wherein a hot-location temperature sensor is located inside the array of device cells, the body also accommodates a cool-location temperature sensor which is located outside the array, the cool-location and hot-location temperature sensors each comprise at least one sensor cell which is of said transistor type with a cellular region structure similar to that of the device cells and with a respective output electrode for each temperature sensor which is separate from electrodes of the device cells, and a detection circuit is coupled to the respective output electrodes of the hot-location and cool-location temperature sensors for detecting a temperature difference between the hot and cool locations by comparing voltage signals from the output electrodes and is capable of operating when the device is operated outside a saturation region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.