EP0717880A1 - Limiteur de courant - Google Patents

Limiteur de courant

Info

Publication number
EP0717880A1
EP0717880A1 EP93918960A EP93918960A EP0717880A1 EP 0717880 A1 EP0717880 A1 EP 0717880A1 EP 93918960 A EP93918960 A EP 93918960A EP 93918960 A EP93918960 A EP 93918960A EP 0717880 A1 EP0717880 A1 EP 0717880A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
source
current
drain
semiconductor region
current limiter
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
EP93918960A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Reinhard Maier
Hermann Zierhut
Heinz Mitlehner
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Siemens AG
Original Assignee
Siemens AG
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Siemens AG filed Critical Siemens AG
Publication of EP0717880A1 publication Critical patent/EP0717880A1/fr
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L29/00—Semiconductor devices adapted for rectifying, amplifying, oscillating or switching, or capacitors or resistors with at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction depletion layer or carrier concentration layer; Details of semiconductor bodies or of electrodes thereof  ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
    • H01L29/02—Semiconductor bodies ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
    • H01L29/12—Semiconductor bodies ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor characterised by the materials of which they are formed
    • H01L29/16—Semiconductor bodies ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor characterised by the materials of which they are formed including, apart from doping materials or other impurities, only elements of Group IV of the Periodic System
    • H01L29/1608—Silicon carbide
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L29/00—Semiconductor devices adapted for rectifying, amplifying, oscillating or switching, or capacitors or resistors with at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction depletion layer or carrier concentration layer; Details of semiconductor bodies or of electrodes thereof  ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
    • H01L29/66—Types of semiconductor device ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
    • H01L29/86—Types of semiconductor device ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor controllable only by variation of the electric current supplied, or only the electric potential applied, to one or more of the electrodes carrying the current to be rectified, amplified, oscillated or switched
    • H01L29/861—Diodes
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02H—EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS
    • H02H3/00—Emergency protective circuit arrangements for automatic disconnection directly responsive to an undesired change from normal electric working condition with or without subsequent reconnection ; integrated protection
    • H02H3/02—Details
    • H02H3/025—Disconnection after limiting, e.g. when limiting is not sufficient or for facilitating disconnection
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02H—EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS
    • H02H3/00—Emergency protective circuit arrangements for automatic disconnection directly responsive to an undesired change from normal electric working condition with or without subsequent reconnection ; integrated protection
    • H02H3/08—Emergency protective circuit arrangements for automatic disconnection directly responsive to an undesired change from normal electric working condition with or without subsequent reconnection ; integrated protection responsive to excess current
    • H02H3/087—Emergency protective circuit arrangements for automatic disconnection directly responsive to an undesired change from normal electric working condition with or without subsequent reconnection ; integrated protection responsive to excess current for dc applications
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02H—EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS
    • H02H9/00—Emergency protective circuit arrangements for limiting excess current or voltage without disconnection
    • H02H9/02—Emergency protective circuit arrangements for limiting excess current or voltage without disconnection responsive to excess current
    • H02H9/025—Current limitation using field effect transistors

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a current limiter with at least one semiconductor region with electron donor (source), electron collector (drain) and electrodes controlling the electron flow (gate).
  • the disadvantage of mechanical protective switching devices is the wear of the contacts, frequent maintenance and a relatively slow switching time in the event of a short circuit, as well as a relatively low temporal accuracy of the switching time.
  • Semiconductor switches can work without wear and switch quickly; they have low switching losses and they can be controlled variably. Disadvantages of semiconductor switches are: high costs, high space requirements and relatively high transmission losses.
  • the object of the invention is to develop a current limiter using semiconductor technology, in which the disadvantages of the semiconductors which have been customary hitherto are reduced to a technically useful extent.
  • a current limiter according to claim 1.
  • the semiconductor region operates without its own control, and it has a characteristic curve such as that which field effect transistors (FETs) have.
  • FETs field effect transistors
  • a current interrupter device can be connected in series to the drain-source path be used in order to protect the semiconductor area as an overload relay or also to enable a shutdown during operation.
  • the gate electrodes are dimensioned with respect to their thickness L, their distance d from one another and the source-drain path D in such a way that there is a limit at a given current strength.
  • the gate electrodes are at floating potential, which is also known as "floating.” referred to as.
  • the semiconductor region can be embodied integrated in a microchip or as a discrete component.
  • a rapid short-circuit current limitation is achieved above an overload limit and thus equipment or electrical distributions can be protected quickly.
  • circuit breakers the advantage of a strong and rapid current limitation is achieved, and the usual burn-up problems are avoided.
  • a rapid high current limitation is achieved without affecting intact parallel circuits of a consumer network.
  • PTC thermistors In comparison to PTC thermistors, a more stable characteristic is achieved.
  • the semiconductor region may • be designed as a vertical "Junction” -Feld ⁇ effect transistor (J-FET). It is particularly advantageous to form the semiconductor region from a substrate material made of silicon carbide.
  • this can be designed as a switch contact with a tripping device.
  • the semiconductor region is designed with embedded gate electrodes.
  • the semiconductor region can also be developed in such a way that gate electrodes are arranged on the source electrode and others on the drain electrode with an electrically conductive connection to the source or drain electrode.
  • the drain-source path can then be compared to fully embedded gate electronics. which are roughly halved, with the operating conditions remaining the same.
  • coolants on the source electrode and on the drain electrode which can be dimensioned such that the limiting current can be reduced in the current-time diagram as a result of a positive temperature coefficient which is established.
  • Such a lowering is also advantageous for a semiconductor region which is operated as a unipolar component.
  • the pn junction between the gate and the drain-source path then does not come into play as a diode, since the threshold voltage, for example 2.8 volts at SiC, is used. In other words: the permissible load current density remains below the diode pass characteristic. You then work in the ohmic area.
  • FIG. 1 shows a first exemplary embodiment using a semiconductor region with embedded gate electrodes.
  • 2 shows a current limiter as shown in FIG. 1 with a semiconductor region, the gate
  • Has electrodes that are electrically connected to the source electrode and gate electrodes that are connected to the drain electrode. 3 shows a characteristic of the current limiter in a diagram, on the ordinate of which the drain-source current is plotted and on the abscissa of which the drain-source voltage is plotted.
  • This diagram illustrates, by way of example, the mode of operation of a current limiter according to FIG. 1.
  • FIG. 4 shows a diagram as shown in FIG. 3, which exemplifies the mode of operation of a current limiter according to FIG. 5 shows a characteristic curve in the current-time diagram for current limiters with additional developments.
  • the semiconductor region is operated as a unipolar component or, or and, and coolants are used.
  • FIG. 6 shows a current limiter according to FIG. 1 with coolants on drain and on source electrodes.
  • FIG. 7 shows coolant in a current limiter according to FIG. 2.
  • the current limiter according to FIG. 1 works with a semiconductor region 1, with source electrode, source electrode 2, drain electrode 3 and gate electrode 4.
  • the gate electrode does not have its own control and is completely embedded.
  • the gate electrode 4 can consist of individual doping islands or can also be produced from a disk-shaped doping region with hole-like interruptions.
  • the gate electrodes 4 are dimensioned with respect to their thickness L, their distance d, from one another and the source-drain path D in such a way that a current limitation is established at a given current strength.
  • the working range entered is obtained with a characteristic according to FIG. 3. Up to 230 volts one works in the linear range 8 and in the case of overvoltages up to about 700 V one remains in the horizontal limitation range, so that the current intensity I- Q is set independently of the voltage U D g.
  • the linear region 8 corresponds to an ON resistance RON
  • a current interrupter device 5 with a switch contact 6 can be connected in series with the drain-source path to the semiconductor region 1.
  • the circuit breaker device 5 usually has a switch contact 6 with a tripping device 7.
  • the current interrupter device 5 can act as an overload relay to protect the semiconductor area in the event of voltage 3, in which the characteristic curve for high drain-source voltages changes into a region parallel to the drain-source current.
  • the current interrupter device 5 can also be designed for operational shutdown in order to achieve a current limiter with the properties of a circuit breaker, for example in the manner of a circuit breaker.
  • the semiconductor region then works as a particularly good limiter, which makes it unnecessary to provide the current interrupter device with arc extinguishing devices.
  • the semiconductor region can be understood as a vertical "junction" field effect transistor, J-FET. It is particularly favorable if the semiconductor region is formed from a substrate material made of silicon carbide.
  • gate electrodes 4a are arranged on the source electrode 2 and other gate electrodes 4b on the drain electrode 3 and are connected in an electrically conductive manner to the source or drain electrode.
  • the drain-source path can be shortened by approximately half and a steeper linear region 8 of the characteristic curve is obtained, which results in a lower ON resistance RON- * corresponds.
  • the first and third quadrants are used, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4.
  • a semiconductor region with a structure according to FIG. 2 can thus be halved in comparison to a semiconductor region in the structure according to FIG.

Abstract

Limiteur de courant comprenant au moins une région semi-conductrice (1) comportant un donneur d'électrons (source;2), un collecteur d'électrons (drain;3) et l'électrode contrôlant le flux électronique (grille;4) sans auto-excitation. La région semi-conductrice présente une courbe caractéristique identique à celle des transistors à effet de champ. Un dispositif interrupteur de courant (5) peut être éventuellement monté en série par rapport à la trajectoire drain-source. Les électrodes grilles (4, 4a, 4b) sont dimensionnées, quant à leur épaisseur (L), leur distance (d) entre elles et la distance source-drain (D), de telle façon qu'une limitation s'instaure pour une intensité de courant prédéterminée.
EP93918960A 1993-09-08 1993-09-08 Limiteur de courant Ceased EP0717880A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/DE1993/000823 WO1995007548A1 (fr) 1993-09-08 1993-09-08 Limiteur de courant

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0717880A1 true EP0717880A1 (fr) 1996-06-26

Family

ID=6888428

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP93918960A Ceased EP0717880A1 (fr) 1993-09-08 1993-09-08 Limiteur de courant

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0717880A1 (fr)
AU (1) AU4942993A (fr)
WO (1) WO1995007548A1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (13)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2742933B1 (fr) 1995-12-20 1998-03-13 Sgs Thomson Microelectronics Composant statique et monolithique limiteur de courant et disjoncteur
DE19548443A1 (de) * 1995-12-22 1997-06-26 Siemens Ag Halbleiteranordnung zur Strombegrenzung
DE19726678A1 (de) 1997-06-24 1999-01-07 Siemens Ag Passiver Halbleiterstrombegrenzer
DE19717614A1 (de) 1997-04-25 1998-10-29 Siemens Ag Passiver Halbleiterstrombegrenzer
US6011279A (en) * 1997-04-30 2000-01-04 Cree Research, Inc. Silicon carbide field controlled bipolar switch
US6252258B1 (en) * 1999-08-10 2001-06-26 Rockwell Science Center Llc High power rectifier
DE10029418A1 (de) 2000-06-15 2001-12-20 Siemens Ag Überstromschutzschaltung
FR2815173B1 (fr) * 2000-10-11 2003-08-22 Ferraz Shawmut Composant limiteur de courant, dispositif de limitation de courant en comportant application, et procede de fabrication de ce composant limiteur de courant
DE10214176B4 (de) * 2002-03-28 2010-09-02 Infineon Technologies Ag Halbleiterbauelement mit einer vergrabenen Stoppzone und Verfahren zur Herstellung einer Stoppzone in einem Halbleiterbauelement
DE10243758A1 (de) 2002-09-20 2004-04-01 eupec Europäische Gesellschaft für Leistungshalbleiter mbH Verfahren zur Herstellung einer vergrabenen Stoppzone in einem Halbleiterbauelement und Halbleiterbauelement mit einer vergrabenen Stoppzone
DE102006034589B4 (de) * 2006-07-26 2008-06-05 Siemens Ag Strom begrenzende Halbleiteranordnung
JP6178181B2 (ja) * 2013-09-12 2017-08-09 株式会社東芝 半導体装置及びその製造方法
GB202115513D0 (en) 2021-10-28 2021-12-15 Rolls Royce Plc Electrical power system

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS526076B1 (fr) * 1971-04-28 1977-02-18
US4187513A (en) * 1977-11-30 1980-02-05 Eaton Corporation Solid state current limiter

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See references of WO9507548A1 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU4942993A (en) 1995-03-27
WO1995007548A1 (fr) 1995-03-16

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