United States Patent [19] [in Patent Number: 5,381,025
Zommer [45] Date of Patent: Jan. 10, 1995
[54] INSULATED GATE THYRISTOR WITH GATE TURN ON AND TURN OFF
[75] Inventor: Nathan Zommer, Los Altos, Calif.
[73] Assignee: Ixys Corporation, San Jose, Calif.
[21] Appl. No.: 961,041
[22] Filed: Oct 14,1992
Related U.S. Application Data
[63] Continuation of Ser. No. 679,415, Apr. 2, 1991, abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 542,273, Jun. 22, 1990, abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 395,398, Aug. 17, 1989, abandoned.
[51] Int. Cl.« H01L 29/74; H01L 29/72;
H01L 29/00
[52] U.S. CI 257/138; 257/147;
257/152
[58] Field of Search 357/38, 35, 36, 37,
357/16; 257/139, 144, 152, 138, 147
[56] References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
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FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
61-222260 10/1986 Japan 357/23.4
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
M. Stoisiek et al., "Power Devices With MOS-Controlled... ", Siemens Forsch-U. Entwickl. -Ber. BD 14 (1985), pp. 45^9.
V. A. K. Temple, "Power Device Evolution and the MOS-Controlled Thyristor", PCIM, Nov. 1987, pp. 23, 25-29.
Primary Examiner—Jerome Jackson
Assistant Examiner—D. Monin
Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Townsend and Townsend
Khourie and Crew
[57] ABSTRACT
An insulated gate thyristor (IGTH) (40,80) that is built on IGBT technology rather than SCR or thyristor technology. The device provides the low on-resistance of a thyristor with the gate turn-on and turn-off capability of an IGBT. The device may be fabricated in a somewhat modified IGBT process, in a cellular (40) or stripe (80) configuration. First the process is modified (by reduced doping) in order to promote (rather than inhibit) latchup. Second, certain regions (52) are formed without source diffusions to create a lateral MOSFET (T5) that can turn off the latched IGBT.
18 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
