Abstract: A semiconductor device comprises a plurality of IGBT-like cells arranged in groups on a single wafer of silicon. Each group of cells has a unified gate structure and a unified source structure electrically insulated therefrom but physically overlying it. The gate structure of each group of cells is brought via a removable link to a single gate electrode for the whole device, so that the gate connection to any group of cells may be broken by removing the link, thus disabling the corresponding group of cells. Also, each group of cells is provided separately with a built-in controlled shunt conductance between its source structure and its gate structure.