Patent ID: 9245888
Filing Date: 2016-01-26
CPC Classification: H01L,H03K

Claim Text:
1. A semiconductor device comprising: a semiconductor chip including a substrate; a first supply terminal electrically coupled to the substrate to provide a first supply potential and a load current to the substrate; a second supply terminal operably provided with a second supply potential; a first vertical transistor integrated in the semiconductor chip and electrically coupled between the first supply terminal and an output terminal, the first vertical transistor configured to provide a current path for the load current to the output terminal in accordance with a control signal that is provided to a gate electrode of the first vertical transistor; a control circuitry integrated in the semiconductor chip and coupled to the first vertical transistor and configured to generate the control signal to switch the first vertical transistor on and off, the control circuitry including a reverse polarity protection circuit that comprises: a first MOS transistor coupled in series with a first diode, the first MOS transistor and the first diode being coupled between the first and the second supply terminals; and a first switching circuit coupled to the first MOS transistor and electrically connected between the first and the second supply terminals, the first switching circuit configured to activate the first MOS transistor when the second supply potential exceeds the first supply potential by more than a given threshold, wherein