Patent Application
20240222964
The present invention generally relates to an electronic device with an terminal protection network. More specifically, the present invention relates to an III-V compound electronic device with a terminal protection network.
Direct bandgap material, for example an III-V compound have been widely used for high-power and high-frequency devices because of low power losses and fast switching transition in comparison with silicon metal oxide semiconductor materials. For example, gallium nitride GaN has been widely used in making primary components in fast chargers for mobile devices. As III-V compound-based transistors are vulnerable to high voltage damages such as electrostatic discharges (ESD), a III-V compound-based electronic device may require individual terminal protection circuit for each of its terminals. Therefore, circuit complexity and chip area will be increased significantly with the increase in number of terminals.
One objective of the present invention is to provide a cost-effective approach of terminal protection for III-V compound-based electronic device.
In according with one aspect of the present disclosure, a terminal protection network is provided. The terminal protection network comprises one or more terminal protection circuits, each having at least two terminals connected respectively to at least two of three terminals of a primary component in an electronic device; and one or more clamping circuits, each having two terminals connected respectively to the primary component and a corresponding auxiliary component in the electronic device.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device is provided. The electronic device comprises: a control terminal; a first conduction terminal; a second conduction terminal; and one or more auxiliary conduction terminals; a primary component having three terminals including a first terminal connected to the control terminal, a second terminal connected to the first conduction terminal and a third terminal connected to the second conduction terminal; one or more auxiliary components, each having three terminals including a first terminal connected to the control terminal, a second terminal connected to the first conduction terminal and a third terminal connected to a corresponding auxiliary conduction terminal; a terminal protection network for protecting the primary component and the one or more auxiliary components. The terminal protection network comprises: one or more terminal protection circuits, each having at least two terminals connected to at least two of three terminals of the primary component respectively; and one or more clamping circuits, each having a first terminal connected to the second conduction terminal and a second terminal connected to a corresponding auxiliary conduction terminal.
By implementing the terminal protection network in the electronic device, the terminal protection circuits can be shared among a plurality of terminals of the electronic device. As clamping circuits in general have less component and occupy less area in comparison with the terminal protection circuits, the present invention provides a more cost-effective terminal protection approach.
Aspects of the present disclosure may be readily understood from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying figures. The illustrations may not necessarily be drawn to scale. That is, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion. There may be distinctions between the artistic renditions in the present disclosure and the actual apparatus due to manufacturing processes and tolerances. For simplicity, common reference numerals may be used throughout the drawings and the detailed description to indicate the same or similar components. Internal terminals inside the relevant components/circuit/blocks will be denoted with the same labels, such as “T1”, “T2”, “T3”.
In the following description, preferred examples of the present disclosure will be set forth as embodiments which are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. Specific details may be omitted so as not to obscure the present disclosure; however, the disclosure is written to enable one skilled in the art to practice the teachings herein without undue experimentation.
The electronic device 100 may further comprise a primary component 102 having three terminals including a terminal T1 connected to the control terminal, a terminal T2 connected to the conduction terminal Cdct1 and a terminal T3 connected to the conduction terminal Cdct2.
The electronic device 100 may further comprise one or more auxiliary components 120_1, . . . , 120_N, each having three terminals including a terminal T1 connected to the control terminal, a terminal T2 connected to the conduction terminal Cdct1 and a terminal T3 connected to a corresponding auxiliary conduction terminal Cau_1, . . . , Cau_N. Each of the primary component 102 and the one or more auxiliary components 1201, . . . , 120_N is protected from ESD damages by an terminal protection circuit 106. It can be seen that with the number of auxiliary components increase, the number of individual terminal protection circuits increases and leads to a significant increase in circuit complexity and chip area.
The electronic device 200 may comprise a primary component 202 having three terminals including a terminal T1 connected to the control terminal, a terminal T2 connected to the conduction terminal Cdct1 and a terminal T3 connected to the conduction terminal Cdct2.
The electronic device 200 may further comprise one or more auxiliary components 220_1, . . . , 220_N, each having three terminals including a terminal T1 connected to the control terminal, a terminal T2 connected to the conduction terminal Cdct1 and a terminal T3 connected to a corresponding auxiliary conduction terminal.
In some embodiments, the primary component 202 and all of the auxiliary components may work as power devices. In some embodiments, the primary component 202 may work as a power device and each of the one or more auxiliary components 220_1, . . . , 220_N may work as a current sensing device.
The electronic device 200 may further comprise an terminal protection network for protecting the primary component and the one or more auxiliary components 220_1, . . . , 220_N. The terminal protection network may comprise one or more terminal protection circuits each having at least two terminals connected respectively to at least two of three terminals of the primary component.
The terminal protection network may further comprise one or more clamping circuits 240_1, . . . , 240_N, each having two terminals connected respectively to the primary component and a corresponding auxiliary component.
In some embodiments, the terminal protection network may comprise an terminal protection circuit 204 having a terminal T1 connected to the conduction terminal Cdct1 and a terminal T2 connected to the control terminal Ctrl.
In some embodiments, the terminal protection network may comprise an terminal protection circuit 206 having a terminal T1 connected to the control terminal Ctrl and a terminal T2 connected to the conduction terminal Cdct2.
In some embodiments, the terminal protection network may comprise an terminal protection circuit 208 having a terminal T1 connected to the conduction terminal Cdct1 and a terminal T2 connected to the conduction terminal Cdct2.
In some embodiments, each clamping circuits 240_1, . . . , 240_N may have a terminal T1 connected to the conduction terminal Ccdt2 (that is connected to the terminal T3 of the primary component 202 and the terminal T2 of the terminal protection circuit 206); and a terminal T2 connected to a terminal T3 of a corresponding auxiliary component (that is, connected to a corresponding auxiliary conduction terminal).
Referring to
In some embodiments, each of the auxiliary components 220_1, . . . , 220_N may be an auxiliary transistor Qau1, . . . , QauN having a gate G acting as the terminal of the auxiliary component, a drain D acting as the terminal T2 of the auxiliary component and a source S acting as the terminal T3 of the auxiliary component. In some embodiments, each of the auxiliary components may be a horizontal/transverse high-electron-mobility transistor HEMT. In some embodiments, each of the auxiliary components may include an arbitrary quantity of horizontal/transverse HEMTs or any other current sensing circuits.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
In other words, the rectifier FC1 may comprise a transistor QC1. The transistor QC1 has a source and a gate electrically shorted together and connected to the terminal T1 of the clamping circuit. The transistor QC1 has a drain connected to the terminal T2 of the clamping circuit. The rectifier FC2 may comprise a transistor QC2. The transistor QC2 has a source and a gate electrically shorted together and connected to the terminal T2 of the clamping circuit. The transistor QC2 has a drain connected to the terminal T1 of the clamping circuit.
Referring to
Referring to
In other words, the rectifier FC1 may comprise a plurality of transistor QC1_1, . . . , QC1_K. Each of the transistors QC1_1, . . . , QC1_K has a source and a gate electrically shorted together. The plurality of transistor QC1_1, . . . , QC1_K are connected in series. The plurality of transistor QC1_1, . . . , QC1_K include a first member transistor QC1_1 having a source and a gate connected to the terminal T1 of the clamping circuit and a last member transistor QC1_K having a drain connected to the terminal T2 of the clamping circuit. The rectifier FC2 may comprise a plurality of transistor QC2_1, . . . , QC2_K. Each of the transistors QC2_1, . . . , QC2_K has a source and a gate electrically shorted together. The plurality of transistor QC2_1, . . . , QC2_K are connected in series. The plurality of transistor QC2_1, . . . , QC2_K include a first member transistor QC2_1 having a source and a gate connected to the terminal T2 of the clamping circuit and a last member transistor QC2_K having a drain connected to the terminal T1 of the clamping circuit.
As shown in
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Referring to
Referring to 7B. In some embodiments, each of the diodes DTP1_1, . . . , DTP1_M1 may be constituted (or replaced) with a transistor having a source and a gate electrically shorted together to act as the anode of the diode and a drain to act as the cathode of the diode. In other words, the plurality of diodes DTP1_1, . . . , DTP1_M1 may be replaced with a plurality of transistors QTP1_1, . . . , QTP1_M1. Each of the transistors QTP1_1, . . . , QTP1_M1 has a source and a gate electrically shorted together. The plurality of transistor QTP1_1, . . . , QTP1_M1 are connected in series. The plurality of transistor QTP1_1, . . . , QTP1_M1 include a first member transistor QTP1_1 having a source and a gate connected to the second end of the capacitor C1 and a last member transistor QTP1_M1 having a drain connected to the terminal T2 of the terminal protection circuit 204.
Referring to
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Referring to
where Vgs_TP2 is the gate-source voltage of the transistor QTP2, Vgs_p is the gate-source voltage of the primary transistor Qp and Vth is the threshold voltage of each of the transistors.
According to Eq. (1), if Vgs_p is higher than (M3+1)*Vth, Vgs_TP2 will be higher than Vth. QTP2 will be turned on such that the voltage at the gate of the primary transistor Qp will be pulled down. In other words, the gate of the primary transistor Qp can be protected from any voltage higher than (M3+1)*Vth.
The electronic device 100/200/300 according to the present invention may be integrated as an integrated circuit chip.
The substrate 52 may include, for example, but not limited to, silicon (Si), doped silicon (doped Si), silicon carbide (SiC), silicide germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs) or other semiconductor materials. The substrate 52 may include, for example, but not limited to, sapphire, silicon on insulator (SOI) or other proper materials. In some embodiments, the substrate 52 may also include a doped region (not shown), for example, a p-well and an n-well.
The III-V layer 54 may be arranged on the substrate 52. The III-V layer 54 may include, for example, but not limited to, gallium nitride (GaN), aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN), indium gallium nitride (InGaN) and other III-V compounds. In some embodiments, the III-V layer 54 may include, for example, but not limited to, III nitrides, for example, compound InxAlyGa1-x-yN (wherein x+y≤1), compound AlyGa(1-y)N (wherein y≤1). In some embodiments, the III-V layer 54 may include, for example, but not limited to, a p type dopant, an n type dopant or other dopants. In some embodiment, the III-V layer 54 may include a single-layer structure, a multi-layer structure and/or a heterostructure. The III-V layer 54 may have a heterojunction, and two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) regions (not shown) are formed in the III-V layer 54 due to polarization of heterojunctions of different nitrides.
The conductor structure 56 is arranged on the III-V layer 54. The conductor structure 56 may include metals, for example, but not limited to, titanium (Ti), Tantalum (Ta), tungsten (W), aluminum (Al), cobalt (Co), cuprum (Cu), nickel (Ni), platinum (Pt), plumbum (Pb), molybdenum (Mo) and compounds (for example but not limited to, titanium nitride (TiN), tantalum nitride (TaN), other conductive nitrides or conductive oxides) thereof, metal alloys (for example aluminum copper alloy (Al—Cu)), or other proper materials.
In some embodiments, the conductor structures 56 may include transistor gate G, transistor source S, transistor drain D, rectifier anode A, rectifier cathode C, capacitor terminals Cbottom and Ctop, resistor terminals Rp and RN, or other conductor structures.
The conductor structures 56 may form different components of the electronic devices according to various embodiments of the present invention, such as transistors 50a and 50b, rectifier 50c, resistor 50d and capacitor 50e. The electronic device 50 may also include an insulation region 58 isolating various components. The electronic device 300 may be formed by integrating the primary component 102, the auxiliary components, the clamping circuits, the coupling capacitor C3 and at least one of the terminal protection circuits 304, 206 and 308 into an integrated circuit IC chip.
Although the conductor structures 56 and various components formed by the conductor structures 56 are described as being arranged at specific positions in
In some embodiments, the transistors 50a and 50b may include high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMT), wherein the HEMT may include an enhancement mode HEMT (E-HEMT) and a depletion mode HEMT (d-HEMT). In some embodiments, the transistor 50a may have a relative high voltage (for example a voltage between the gate and the drain) component (for example a component which is applicable to a voltage of equal to or larger than 600 V) and relative low voltage component (for example a component which is applicable to a voltage of 10 V-100 V). For example, the primary component 102 may be formed of a transistor 50a and each of auxiliary components 120_1/ . . . /120_N may be formed of a transistor 50b.
In some embodiments, the resistor 50d may be a 2DEG resistor. In some embodiments, the resistor 50d may have a 2DEG region. In some embodiments, the capacitor 50e may be a metal-insulator-metal MIM capacitor.
In some embodiments, the electronic device 50 may be a horizontal/transverse electronic device. That is, the components in the electronic device 50 are of horizontal/transverse structures. For example, an arrow D1 is horizontal. The arrow D1 is transverse. An arrow D2 is vertical. The arrow D2 is longitudinal. The arrow D1 is vertical to the arrow D2. The vertical direction is the stacking direction of the substrate 52 and the III-V layer 54 of the electronic device 50. The horizontal direction is roughly parallel to the surface 52s of the substrate 52 and the surface 54s of the III-V layer 54. The current flows in a direction shown by the arrow D1 in
Accordingly, the transistors 50a and 50b may include horizontal/transverse HEMTs. That is, as shown in
In other embodiments, the electronic device 100/200/300 according to the present invention may be formed of discrete electronic devices. That is, the components in the electronic device 100/200/300 are each formed independently in a die. The discrete electronic devices are conducive to formation of integrated electronic devices. For example, the discrete electronic devices are further integrated with other devices, and/or a plurality of electronic devices are integrated with each other.
The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with various modifications that are suited to the particular use contemplated. While the methods disclosed herein have been described with reference to particular operations performed in a particular order, it will be understood that these operations may be combined, sub-divided, or re-ordered to form an equivalent method without departing from the teachings of the present disclosure. Accordingly, unless specifically indicated herein, the order and grouping of the operations are not limitations. While the apparatuses disclosed herein have been described with reference to particular structures, shapes, materials, composition of matter and relationships . . . etc., these descriptions and illustrations are not limiting. Modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation to the objective, spirit and scope of the present disclosure. All such modifications are intended to be within the scope of the claims appended hereto.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2022/079244 | 3/4/2022 | WO |
