Lateral insulated gate control transistors have been proposed in which an insulated gate is used to control the forward conductance of an inherent bipolar transistor. These prior devices have not provided for reverse conduction.
Further, prior MOS controlled TRIACs with gate turn-off capability have relied upon the use of two separate MOS gates to turn the device off. Each of the gates is separately referenced to a respective output terminal. These devices thus require the use of a very thick gate oxide such as suggested by Plummer et al. "Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Transactions on Electron Devices", Vol. 27, pages 380-394 (1980) or alternatively require the use of high voltage level shifting circuits in combination with these devices. Both these features are undesirable. There thus exists an unfulfilled need to provide a lateral insulated gate device structure which provides for low voltage, high current forward and reverse conduction and which can be turned off by a single MOS controlled turn-off gate.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds