Four lead monolithic Darlingtons

• Main Author: COATES; JOHN P
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 07.04.1981
• Subjects: BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; BASIC ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY; BLASTING; COMBUSTION ENGINES; ELECTRIC SOLID STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; ELECTRICITY; HEATING; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS; IGNITION, OTHER THAN COMPRESSION IGNITION, FORINTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES; LIGHTING; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; PULSE TECHNIQUE; SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; TESTING OF IGNITION TIMING IN COMPRESSION-IGNITION ENGINES; WEAPONS

A monolithic Darlington in which the transistors forming the Darlington pair are formed on a substrate together with a fourth terminal in addition to the normal three terminals provided for a Darlington pair, the fourth terminal being connected to the base electrode of the second transistor and the emitter electrode of the first transistor. The addition of the fourth terminal enables a control circuit for controlling the rate of switch off to be connected between the fourth terminal and the command collector electrode, this removing the effect which the stored charge on the base electrode of the first transistor has on the switching rate of the Darlington pair, thus enabling a faster switching rate to be achieved.