Patent ID: 8907373

Claim:
A device, comprising: a triac element connected between a first terminal and a second terminal and having a trigger, and a circuit configured to actuate the triac element through the trigger, said circuit comprising a first unit and a second unit symmetrically connected in series between the first terminal and the second terminal at a common terminal connected to said trigger, each first and second unit comprising at least one MOS transistor including a parasitic bipolar transistor and configured, in the presence of a current pulse between the first and second terminals, to operate, at least temporarily, in a hybrid mode including MOS-type operation in a sub-threshold mode and operation of the parasitic bipolar transistor, said circuit further comprising: at least one first field-effect diode having an anode terminal, a cathode terminal and a gate terminal, wherein the anode terminal is connected to the first terminal and the cathode terminal is connected to said common terminal and the gate terminal is connected to a gate of said at least one MOS transistor of the first unit, and at least one second field-effect diode having an anode terminal, a cathode terminal and a gate terminal, wherein the anode terminal is connected to the second terminal and the cathode terminal is connected to said common terminal and the gate terminal is connected to the gate of said at least one MOS transistor of the second unit.