Patent ID: 7855427

Claim:
A semiconductor device, comprising: a semiconductor substrate; a first insulating film provided on said semiconductor substrate; a first semiconductor layer provided on said first insulating film, said first semiconductor layer including a first region of a first conductivity type, a second region of a second conductivity type having a relatively low resistance, and a third region of said second conductivity type having a relatively high resistance, said third region being defined between said first region and said second region; a fourth insulating film provided on a side surface of said first semiconductor layer; and a voltage dividing element connected between said first region and said second region provided along said first semiconductor layer while holding said fourth insulating film therebetween, said voltage dividing element comprising a plurality of series connected diodes dividing a voltage potential across said first region and said second region in a direction from said first region toward said second region in a multistep process such that said potential becomes closer to a potential of said second region as said potential comes nearer to said second region.