Circuitry for protecting a semiconductor device against static electricity.

摘要

In a semiconductor device, such as a bipolar integrated circuit, an input element (12) requires protection, against possible damage by static electricity, by means capable of acting more rapidly and with less capacitance than a simple diode.
<??>Such means are provided by a PNP-transistor (16), having its emitter connected to an electrical reference potential point (14) of the device, and an NPN-transistor (17) having its emitter connected to a signal input point (10) of the input element (12), and having its collector and base connected respectively to the base and collector of the PNP-transistor (16), there being a resistive connection (18) between the respective bases of the two transistors (16,17).