Patent ID: 8860494

Claim:
A device comprising: a half bridge configuration of multiple switches arranged in series, the multiple switches of the half bridge configuration comprising a normally-on semiconductor switch having a source, a drain, and a gate, wherein the normally-on semiconductor switch is able to block an electric potential difference between the drain and the source without an excessive leakage current, wherein the blockable electric potential difference varies with an electric potential difference across the gate and the source, wherein the half bridge configuration further comprises an oscillating power supply electrically coupled in parallel across the drain and the source and supplied with power by the electric potential difference between the drain and the source to generate an output voltage, and a gate driver coupled between the gate and the source to apply the electric potential difference across the gate and the source and thereby switch the normally-on semiconductor switch between an on state and an off state, wherein the gate driver is powered by the output voltage generated by the oscillating power supply, wherein the oscillating power supply and the normally-on semiconductor switch are coordinated so that, for any electric potential difference between the drain and the source of the normally-on semiconductor switch, the excessive leakage current cannot flow through the normally-on semiconductor switch.