Patent ID: 8129789

Claim:
A semiconductor chip comprising: a semiconductor body having an upper surface; at least one power semiconductor component and other circuitry disposed adjacent the upper surface of the semiconductor body; a plurality of vertically spaced metallization layers arranged over the surface of the semiconductor body, each metallization layer having a thickness less than 1000 nanometers; a top metallization layer having a thickness greater than 1000 nanometers, the top metallization layer comprising terminals establishing an electrical connection to load terminals of the power semiconductor component; a current measurement resistor comprising a portion of the top metallization layer for sensing a load current of the power semiconductor component; and a temperature measurement resistor comprising a portion of at least one of the vertically spaced metallization layers, the temperature measurement resistor electrically isolated from but thermally coupled to the current measurement resistor such that the current measurement resistor and the temperature measurement resistor have substantially the same temperature.