Patent ID: 7482655

Claim:
An IGBT device, comprising: a substrate having a conductivity type; a drain electrode arranged on a bottom surface of the substrate; an epitaxial layer arranged on the substrate and having a conductivity type opposite that of the substrate; a plurality of body diffusions arranged within the epitaxial layer and having a conductivity type the same as that of the substrate; at least one source diffusion arranged within each of the plurality of body diffusions and having a conductivity type the same as that of the epitaxial layer; a gate electrode to control the IGBT device; a source electrode electrically coupled to each of the plurality of body diffusions and the at least one source diffusion arranged within each of the plurality of body diffusions; an additional diffusion arranged within the epitaxial layer and situated between different body diffusions of the plurality of body diffusions, the additional diffusion having a conductivity type the same as that of the substrate and forming a collector region of a vertical bipolar transistor; and a sense electrode electrically coupled to the additional diffusion; wherein the presence of minority carriers in the epitaxial layer may be detected in accordance with a voltage of the sense electrode.