The present application teaches, among other innovations, power semiconductor devices in which breakdown initiation regions, on BOTH sides of a die, are located inside the emitter/collector regions, but laterally spaced away from insulated trenches which surround the emitter/collector regions. Preferably this is part of a symmetrically-bidirectional power device of the “B-TRAN” type. In one advantageous group of embodiments (but not all), the breakdown initiation regions are defined by dopant introduction through the bottom of trench portions which lie within the emitter/collector region. In one group of embodiments (but not all), these can advantageously be separated trench portions which are not continuous with the trench(es) surrounding the emitter/collector region(s).

A sacrificial substrate wafer is provided. A low resistivity etch stop layer is formed on or in the top surface of the wafer. The etch stop layer may be a highly doped, p+ type epitaxially grown layer, or an implanted p+ type boron layer, or an epitaxially grown p+ type SiGe layer. Various epitaxial layers, such as an n− type drift layer, and doped regions are then formed over the etch stop layer to form a vertical power device. The starting wafer is then removed by a combination of mechanical grinding/polishing to leave a thinner layer of the starting wafer. A chemical or plasma etch is then used to remove the remainder of the starting wafer, using the etch stop layer to automatically stop the etching. A bottom metal electrode is then formed on the etch stop layer. The etch stop layer injects hole carriers into the drift layer.

A short-circuit semiconductor component comprises a semiconductor body, in which a rear-side base region of a first conduction type, an inner region of a second complementary conduction type, and a front-side base region of the first conduction type are disposed. The rear-side base region is electrically connected to a rear-side electrode, and the front-side base region is electrically connected to a front-side electrode. A turn-on structure, which is an emitter structure of the second conduction type, is embedded into the front-side base region and/or rear-side base region and is covered by the respective electrode and is electrically contacted with the electrode placed on the base region respectively embedding it. It can be turned on by a trigger structure which can be activated by an electrical turn-on signal. In the activated state, the trigger structure injects an electrical current surge into the semiconductor body, which irreversibly destroys a semiconductor junction.

A short-circuit semiconductor component comprises a semiconductor body, in which a rear-side base region of a first conduction type, an inner region of a second conduction type complementary to the first conduction type, and a front-side base region of the first conduction type are disposed. The rear-side base region is electrically connected to a rear-side electrode with a rear-side electrode width, and the front-side base region is electrically connected to a front-side electrode with a front-side electrode width. A turn-on structure with a turn-on structure width is embedded into the front-side and/or rear-side base region and is covered by the respective electrode. The turn-on structure is configured to be turned on depending on a supplied turn-on signal and to produce, on a one-off basis, an irreversible, low-resistance connection between the two electrodes. The ratio of the turn-on structure width to the respective electrode width is less than 1.

An edge delimits a semiconductor body in a direction parallel to a first side of the semiconductor body. A peripheral area is arranged between the active area and edge. A first semiconductor region of a first conductivity type extends from the active area into the peripheral area. A second semiconductor region of a second conductivity type forms a pn-junction with the first semiconductor region. A first edge termination region of the second conductivity type arranged at the first side adjoins the first semiconductor region, between the second semiconductor region and edge. A second edge termination region of the first conductivity type arranged at the first side and between the first edge termination region and edge has a varying concentration of dopants of the first conductivity type which increases at least next to the first edge termination region substantially linearly with an increasing distance from the first edge termination region.

A power transistor assembly and method of operating the assembly are provided. The power transistor assembly includes integrated transient voltage suppression on a single semiconductor substrate and includes a transistor formed of a wide band gap material, the transistor including a gate terminal, a source terminal, and a drain terminal, the transistor further including a predetermined maximum allowable gate voltage value, and a transient voltage suppression (TVS) device formed of a wide band gap material, the TVS device formed with the transistor as a single semiconductor device, the TVS device electrically coupled to the transistor between at least one of the gate and source terminals and the drain and source terminals, the TVS device including a breakdown voltage limitation selected to be greater than the predetermined maximum allowable gate voltage value.

A short-circuit semiconductor component comprises a semiconductor body, in which a rear-side base region of a first conduction type, an inner region of a second conduction type complementary to the first conduction type, and a front-side base region of the first conduction type are disposed. The rear-side base region is electrically connected to a rear-side electrode with a rear-side electrode width, and the front-side base region is electrically connected to a front-side electrode with a front-side electrode width. A turn-on structure with a turn-on structure width is embedded into the front-side and/or rear-side base region and is covered by the respective electrode. The turn-on structure is configured to be turned on depending on a supplied turn-on signal and to produce, on a one-off basis, an irreversible, low-resistance connection between the two electrodes. The ratio of the turn-on structure width to the respective electrode width is less than 1.

The present application teaches, among other innovations, power semiconductor devices in which breakdown initiation regions, on BOTH sides of a die, are located inside the emitter/collector regions, but laterally spaced away from insulated trenches which surround the emitter/collector regions. Preferably this is part of a symmetrically-bidirectional power device of the “B-TRAN” type. In one advantageous group of embodiments (but not all), the breakdown initiation regions are defined by dopant introduction through the bottom of trench portions which lie within the emitter/collector region. In one group of embodiments (but not all), these can advantageously be separated trench portions which are not continuous with the trench(es) surrounding the emitter/collector region(s).

An electrostatic protection element including: a first impurity layer of second conductivity type formed on a semiconductor substrate of first conductivity type; a second impurity layer of the first conductivity type formed within the first impurity layer; a first contact layer of the first conductivity type formed in a region within the first impurity layer other than at the second impurity layer; a second and a third contact layer both of the second conductivity type and formed within the second impurity layer; and multilayer wiring connected through a stack structure to the first, the second, and the third contact layer, wherein the stack structure includes at least a first layer wiring connected to each of the first, the second, and the third contact layer, and a second layer wiring connected to the first layer wiring directly above each of the first, the second, and the third contact layer.

A power semiconductor component for voltage limiting includes a rear-side base zone electrically contacted with a rear-side electrode and a front-side base zone electrically contacted with a front-side electrode. At least one switch-on structure is embedded at least into one of the rear-side base zone and the front-side base zone and is electrically contacted by the electrode contacting the embedding base zone. At least one triggering structure is provided as a breakdown structure of a first type, present between the front-side and rear-side electrodes. At least one further triggering structure is provided as a breakdown structure of a second type, present between the front-side and rear-side electrodes. The front-side and rear-side electrodes are each electrically conductively pressure-contacted by an electrically conductive contact plate at least one of which functions as a heat sink for dissipating heat generated in the semiconductor body.