Patent ID: 8022505

Claim:
A semiconductor device structure comprising: a plurality of horizontal conductive elements and a plurality of vertical layers having a plurality of vertical conductive elements wherein the semiconductor device structure supports at least two active devices in parallel within the same structure; a first active device being a PN diode and is arranged to support at least two concurrent current flows such that a first current flow is across the plurality of vertical conductive elements and a second current flow is across the plurality of horizontal conductive elements; wherein: the plurality of horizontal conductive elements form a PNP transistor as a second active device comprising a ‘P’ doped region and an ‘N’ doped region located within a ‘P − ’ doped region; and a terminal of the PN diode and an emitter of the PNP transistor are connected at a first node, and another terminal of the PN diode and a collector of the PNP transistor are connected at a second node.