Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
  • H03K—PULSE TECHNIQUE
  • H03K17/00—Electronic switching or gating, i.e. not by contact-making and –breaking
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L27/00—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate
  • H01L27/02—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate including semiconductor components specially adapted for rectifying, oscillating, amplifying or switching and having potential barriers; including integrated passive circuit elements having potential barriers
  • H01L27/04—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate including semiconductor components specially adapted for rectifying, oscillating, amplifying or switching and having potential barriers; including integrated passive circuit elements having potential barriers the substrate being a semiconductor body
  • H01L27/06—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate including semiconductor components specially adapted for rectifying, oscillating, amplifying or switching and having potential barriers; including integrated passive circuit elements having potential barriers the substrate being a semiconductor body including a plurality of individual components in a non-repetitive configuration
  • H01L27/0611—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate including semiconductor components specially adapted for rectifying, oscillating, amplifying or switching and having potential barriers; including integrated passive circuit elements having potential barriers the substrate being a semiconductor body including a plurality of individual components in a non-repetitive configuration integrated circuits having a two-dimensional layout of components without a common active region

Definitions

• the present invention relates to the switching of a load connected by a bidirectional switch to an AC network or by a unidirectional switch to an AC network rectified by a rectifier bridge.
• the present invention finds, for example, applications in the field of controlling medium power loads, for example a vacuum cleaner motor, a temperature-controlled heating circuit, an attenuator lighting system, etc.
• FIG. 1 very schematically shows such a switching circuit.
• Load 1 is arranged at terminals A and B of an alternating voltage or of a rectified alternating voltage, in series with a power switch S.
• the switch SW will be called a power switch, although it is in the examples given a medium power switch intended for switching loads connected to the mains.
• the switch SW is controlled by a control circuit 2 receiving a control order, periodic or not, on a terminal 3.
• the control circuit is, for example, intended to put the switch in conduction during only part of an alternation of the alternating voltage between terminals A and B, which corresponds to a so-called phase angle control. Then, when the switch closes, a strong current draw occurs in the load. In other words, the variation in current as a function of time (di / dt) is brutal and the current presents significant peaks each time the switch is closed.
• American patent 6127746 provides a relatively complex circuit for detecting current peaks and controlling the control of an MOS transistor so as to dampen these current peaks.
• Japanese patent application 07/131316 provides for detecting overcurrents on an output pad of an MOS transistor by surrounding this pad with a winding, which leads to a significant increase in the surface of the semiconductor chip containing the transistor.
• the present invention aims to solve the problem of returning parasites to a power source and the elements connected to this source without adding discrete elements such as a high value inductor, without providing for a complex detection circuit, and without increasing the surface of the semiconductor chip.
• the present invention provides a vertical type power switch produced in a semiconductor chip, comprising a winding produced at the periphery of at least one face of said chip, this winding comprising two connection terminals providing a proportional signal. to variations in current in said switch.
• the switch further comprises a high value resistor disposed in or on the semiconductor chip.
• the switch is of the bipolar transistor, MOS transistor or bipolar transistor with insulated gate type.
• the switch is associated with a control circuit for a control signal from this switch as a function of the signal at the terminals of said winding.
• FIG. 1 schematically represents a load switching circuit according to the prior art
• FIG. 2 schematically represents a circuit for switching a load associated with a current variation detector
• Figure 3A is a partial sectional view of an exemplary switch according to the present invention
• Figure 3B is a schematic top view of an exemplary switch according to the present invention
• FIG. 4 represents a circuit for switching the current in a load according to the present invention.
• the present invention aims to provide a simple circuit of the type illustrated in Figure 2.
• a load 1 is connected between AC supply terminals A and B via a switch SW.
• the switch SW is controlled by a control circuit 12 receiving a trigger signal 3 from a selected time of each half cycle.
• the variation in current di / dt in the load circuit at the time of closing is detected and a correction signal linked to the value of the variation di / dt is applied to the control circuit 12 so that this value di / dt does not not exceed a determined threshold.
• the present invention provides for making the current variation detection circuit monolithically with the power switch SW.
• FIG. 3A An embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the partial sectional view of FIG. 3A in the case where the vertical power component is an MOS transistor.
• the vertical MOS transistor is formed from an N-type substrate 21 comprising on the side of its lower face a more heavily doped layer N of type N covered with a drain metallization D.
• a drain metallization D On the side of the upper face, are formed P-type boxes 23.
• an N-type ring 24 is formed, the external periphery of which extends near the periphery of the box 23.
• the zone of the box 23 between the periphery of this box and the external periphery of the region 24 of type P is covered with a gate metallization 26 formed on an insulating layer 27.
• a source metallization is integral with the central part of the boxes 23 and the rings 24.
• a peripheral zone 28 of type P is also shown which is deeper than the wells 23 at the periphery of the component.
• This zone 28 or other peripheral means for ensuring that the breakdown of a vertical MOS transistor cannot be done at the periphery are known to one skilled in the art and are susceptible of numerous variants. Such a periphery is necessary and corresponds to a lost, non-active surface of the component.
• a vertical MOS transistor is shown above by way of example.
• the invention could also be implemented with other vertical power switches such that the current which flows through them is linked to the voltage applied to their control electrode.
• Examples of such co po- sants are bipolar transistors, or insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT) (it will be noted that the structure of an IGBT transistor differs from the structure shown diagrammatically in FIG. 3A only by the fact that layer 22 instead of be heavily doped of the same type as the substrate is heavily doped of the opposite conductivity type).
• the other components also include a peripheral zone intended to ensure a sufficiently high breakdown voltage.
• the periphery of the component is coated with a metallization 30 wound in successive turns around the power component.
• the metallization 30 is isolated from the substrate 21 by an insulating layer 29, for example made of silicon oxide.
• FIG. 3B shows, by a dotted outline, the outline of the source metallization S and by another dotted outline, the outline of a region of contact pickup of gate G.
• this current When the component is traversed by a vertical current, variations of this current will produce at the terminals 31, 32 of the inductor 30 a signal proportional to current variation. It will also be noted that this signal is detectable even if the current is not strictly vertical, provided that it does not remain in the plane of the turns.
• a winding with four turns One could of course provide windings with more or less turns depending on the target detection threshold.
• This resistor can be arranged externally or can be produced monolithically on the semiconductor chip 21 in the form of a polycrystalline silicon resistor or in any other way known to those skilled in the art.
• FIG. 4 represents an example of use of a component according to the present invention in a circuit.
• this component has been designated generally by the reference 40 and comprises for example a power transistor T, a winding 30 and a resistor R integrated in a monolithic fashion.
• the terminal 32 of the winding 30 and of the resistor R is connected to ground.
• Terminal 31 is connected via a multiplier 41 by a coefficient K to the subtraction input of an adder 42 whose addition input receives the control signal from circuit 12.
• this order tends to close transistor T.
• the servo circuit of the transistor T or other power switch is susceptible of numerous variants which will appear to one skilled in the art. For example, in order to meet standards for returning parasites to a supply network, it is possible to provide a supply circuit which performs different compensations according to the frequency of the di / dt signal.
• control circuit and of the di / dt signal processing circuit can be integrated on the same semiconductor chip as that which contains the power component.
• control circuit and of the di / dt signal processing circuit can be integrated on the same semiconductor chip as that which contains the power component.
• the formation of the winding 30 does not cause any loss of surface of the semiconductor chip since this winding is arranged above the periphery of the chip, which normally corresponds to a necessary surface but not active.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Power Engineering (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
• Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
• Electronic Switches (AREA)
• Metal-Oxide And Bipolar Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Integrated Circuits (AREA)
• Semiconductor Integrated Circuits (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

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Family Cites Families (13)

• 2001
  • 2001-01-24 FR FR0100935A patent/FR2819953B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2002
  • 2002-01-22 EP EP02700368A patent/EP1358677A1/fr not_active Withdrawn
  • 2002-01-22 CN CNB028001532A patent/CN1279616C/zh not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2002-01-22 WO PCT/FR2002/000259 patent/WO2002059971A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2002-01-22 KR KR1020027012635A patent/KR20030016241A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2002-01-22 US US10/470,024 patent/US7432549B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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