Patent ID: 8643071

Claim:
A MOSFET device, comprising: a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type; a semiconductor drift region of the first conductivity type formed above the semiconductor substrate, wherein the drift region is less heavily doped than the substrate; a body region of a second conductivity type formed in a top portion of the drift region, wherein the second conductivity type is opposite the first conductivity type; one or more active MOSFET device structures formed from the drift region and body region, wherein each active MOSFET device structure includes an electrically insulated gate electrode; one or more source regions of the first conductivity type formed in a top portion of the body region proximate the gate electrode; an insulator portion formed over the gate electrodes and over a top surface of the body region; a conductive source electrode layer formed over the insulator portion; one or more electrical connections that connect the source electrode layer with the one or more source regions; and one or more dummy device structures formed from the drift region and body region electrically connected in parallel to the active MOSFET device structures, wherein each of the one or more dummy device structures includes an electrically insulated snubber electrode formed proximate the body region and the drift region; an insulator portion formed over the snubber electrode and over a top surface of the body region, and one or more electrical connections that connect the snubber electrode and nearby portions of the body region with the source electrode layer, wherein the electrical connections that connect the snubber electrode and nearby portions of the body region to the source electrode layer are connections that extend from the source electrode layer through the insulator portion.