Patent ID: 7102376

Claim:
A power semiconductor module with a detector for detecting main circuit current passing through a power semiconductor element, the detector comprising: first, second and third circuit patterns; a first bonding wire connected at first and second bonding points with the first and second circuit patterns, respectively; a second bonding wire connected at third and fourth bonding points with the second and third circuit patterns, respectively; and a pair of terminal patterns extended from near the first and second bonding points of the first and second circuit patterns or from near the third and fourth bonding points of the second and third circuit patterns, wherein the detector is designed to detect a potential difference between the pair of terminal patterns generated by flowing main circuit current through the first circuit pattern, the first bonding wire, the second circuit pattern, the second bonding wire and then the third circuit pattern, in order to detect a potential difference across the first bonding wire or second bonding wire; and wherein the first and second bonding wires are extended adjacent to and generally parallel to each other so that the first and second bonding wires carry current in generally opposite directions.