Cascoded semiconductor devices

摘要

A cascoded power semiconductor circuit has a clamp circuit between the source and gate of a gallium nitride or silicon carbide FET to provide avalanche protection for the cascode MOSFET transistor.

主权项

1. A cascode transistor circuit comprising:
a gallium nitride field effect transistor or a silicon carbide field effect transistor having its drain connected to a high power rail and its gate directly connected to a low power rail; a silicon MOSFET with its drain connected to the source of the gallium nitride or silicon carbide FET and its source (SM) directly connected to the low power rail; and a clamp circuit that includes a diode connected between the source and gate of the gallium nitride or silicon carbide FET and that is configured to shunt current in a forward bias mode to clamp a voltage across the drain and source of the silicon MOSFET.