Abstract: A memory device includes a semiconducting polymer film, which includes an organic dopant. The semiconducting polymer film has a first side and a second side. The memory device also includes a first plurality of electrical conductors substantially parallel to each other coupled to the first side of the semiconducting polymer layer, and a second plurality of electrical conductors substantially parallel to each other, coupled to the second side of the semiconducting polymer layer. The first and second pluralities of electrical conductors are substantially mutually orthogonal to each other. Further, an electrical charge is localized on the organic dopant.

Abstract: A diode has a semiconductor layer of a first conductive type having a first principal plane and a second principal plane facing the first principal plane; a first impurity layer of a second conductive type which is opposite to said first conductive type, said first impurity layer being selectively formed on said first principal plane of said semiconductor layer; a second impurity layer of the first conductive type which is selectively formed on said first principal plane of said semiconductor layer apart from said first impurity layer; a first main electrode connected to said first impurity layer; a second main electrode connected to said second impurity layer; a third impurity layer of the first conductive type which is selectively formed on said second principal plane of said semiconductor layer and which is formed so as to face said first impurity layer; a fourth impurity layer of the second conductive type which is selectively formed on said second principal plane of said semiconductor layer and which is

Abstract: A method of making a vertical diode is provided, the vertical dioxide having associated therewith a diode opening extending through an insulation layer and contacting an active region on a silicon wafer. A titanium silicide layer covers the interior surface of the diode opening and contacts the active region. The diode opening is initially filled with an amorphous silicon plug that is doped during deposition and subsequently recrystallized to form large grain polysilicon. The silicon plug has a top portion that is heavily doped with a first type dopant and a bottom portion that is lightly doped with a second type dopant. The top portion is bounded by the bottom portion so as not to contact the titanium silicide layer. For one embodiment of the vertical diode, a programmable resistor contacts the top portion of the silicon plug and a metal line contacts the programmable resistor.

Abstract: A semiconductor integrated circuit device with built-in spark killer diodes suitable for output transistor protection has a problem such that a leakage current to the substrate is great and a desirable forward current cannot be obtained. In a semiconductor integrated circuit device of the present invention, P+-type first and second diffusion regions 34 and 32 are formed on the surface of a second epitaxial layer 23 in a partly overlapping manner. And, by a connection to an anode electrode 39 at a part immediately over the P+-type second diffusion region 32, a parasitic resistance R1 is made greater than a parasitic resistance R2. Thus, an operation of a parasitic transistor TR2 that causes a leakage current to a substrate 21 is suppressed, whereby leakage current can be greatly reduced.

Abstract: A conductive structure provides a conductive path from a first region in a semiconductor material to a second spaced apart region in the semiconductor material by forming one or more trenches between the first and second regions, and implanting a dopant into the bottom surfaces of the trenches to form a continuous conductive path.

Abstract: A conductive structure provides a conductive path from a first region in a semiconductor material to a second spaced apart region in the semiconductor material by forming a plurality of trenches between the first and second regions, implanting a dopant into the bottom surfaces of the trenches, and then annealing the wafer to cause the dopant at the bottom surfaces to diffuse and form a continuous conductive path.

Abstract: The semiconductor device according to the present invention comprises: a semiconductor substrate 10 of a first conductivity type; a well 28 of a second conductivity type different from the first conductivity type formed in a region 18 surrounding a region 20 of the semiconductor substrate 10; a diffused layer 42 of the second conductivity type formed, buried in the semiconductor substrate 10 in the region 20 and connected to the well 28 on a side thereof; and a well 44 of the first conductivity type formed in the semiconductor substrate 10 in the region 20 on the side of a surface thereof and electrically isolated from a rest region of the semiconductor substrate 10 by the well 28 and the diffused layer 42.

Abstract: A distributed power device (100) including a plurality of tank regions (90) separated from one another by a deep n-type region (16), and having formed in each tank region a plurality of transistors (50). The plurality of transistors (50) in each tank region are interconnected to transistors in other tank regions to form a large power FET, whereby the deep n-type regions isolate the tank regions from one another. A first parasitic diode (D5) is defined from each tank region to a buried layer, and a second parasitic diode (D4) is defined between the buried layer and a substrate. The deep n-type regions distribute the first and second parasitic diodes with respect to the plurality of tank regions, preferably comprised of a P-epi tank. The deep n-type regions also distribute the resistance of an NBL layer (14) formed under the tank regions.

Abstract: The invention relates to a semiconductor memory (1) having a plurality of memory-cell arrays (2), a plurality of sense-amplifier areas (3) and a plurality of driver areas (4) on a semiconductor substrate (7) of a first conductivity type, each of the multiple sense-amplifier areas (3) and multiple driver areas (4) containing at least one first well (9) of the first conductivity type and/or at least one second well (10) of a second conductivity type, and each first well (9) of the driver areas (4) being isolated from the semiconductor substrate (7) by a buried horizontal layer (8) of the second conductivity type.

Abstract: In an integrated pressure sensor including a semiconductor substrate having a p type single crystal silicon substrate and an n type epitaxial layer of which a portion is etched by electrochemical etching to have a diaphragm, an impurity diffusion layer piercing the n type epitaxial layer at least defining the diaphragm is formed for isolation. An etching wire is formed on the surface of the n type epitaxial layer with insulation and the first end of the etching wire extends to the inside of the surface and is connected to the n type epitaxial layer. The second opposite end extends to an edge of the semiconductor substrate. The etching wire does not cross the impurity layer inside the surface of the semiconductor substrate to prevent the etching wire from short-circuiting with the impurity diffusion layer during the electrochemical etching.

Abstract: A junction isolated Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) transistor device includes a substrate of a first conductivity type and first and second buried layers formed within the substrate and having a second conductivity type opposite from the first conductivity type. First and second well regions of respective first and second conductivity are formed above respective first and second buried layers. An NMOS transistor and PMOS transistor are formed in the respective first and second well regions. The buried layer of the NMOS transistor is at −V (typically ground) and the buried layer of the PMOS transistor is biased at a positive supply voltage and spaced sufficiently from the NMOS transistor to improve single event effects occurrence.

Abstract: Component having a blocking pn junction having an edge termination structure which is formed by a further, more weakly doped region (5) and a trench (8) formed therein, said trench being filled with a dielectric. The dielectric material in the trench (8) diverts the equipotential areas from the horizontal in a very confined space in the vertical direction, with the result that the electric field can emerge from the component within a small region of the chip surface.

Abstract: An integrated NMOS circuit including an active stack having a plurality of isolated p-well active devices M1-M3, a bias stack having a plurality of diode-connected isolated p-well bias devices M4-M6, the gate of each of the plurality of diode-connected isolated p-well bias devices coupled to the gate of a corresponding one of the plurality of isolated p-well active devices, the bulk of each of the plurality of diode-connected isolated p-well bias devices coupled directly to the bulk of the corresponding one of the plurality of isolated p-well active devices, and the source of each of the plurality of diode-connected isolated p-well bias devices coupled directly to the bulk of the corresponding diode-connected isolated p-well bias device.

Abstract: A high voltage MOSgated semiconductor device has a generally linear MOSFET type forward current versus forward voltage characteristic at low voltage and the high current, low forward drop capability of an IGBT. The device is particularly useful as the control transistor for a television tube deflection coil. The device is formed by a copacked discrete IGBT die and power MOSFET die in which the ratio of the MOSFET die area is preferably about 25% that of the IGBT. Alternatively, the IGBT and MOSFET can be integrated into the same die, with the IGBT and MOSFET elements alternating laterally with one another and overlying respective P+ injection regions and N+ contact regions respectively on the bottom of the die. The MOSFET and IGBT elements are preferably spaced apart by a distance of about 1 minority carrier length (50-100 microns for a 1500 volt device).

Abstract: An isolation device that can be used for providing optical and electrical isolation between areas of an integrated chip. The isolation device includes three doped elongate regions which form diodes which can be connected in series. The isolation device can be used in optical devices or optical attenuators.

Abstract: Disclosed is a semiconductor device, such as a semiconductor memory device, having structure wherein invasion of minority carriers from the semiconductor substrate into components of the device, formed on the substrate, can be avoided. The semiconductor memory device can be an SRAM or DRAM, for example, and includes a memory array and peripheral circuit on a substrate. In one aspect of the present invention, a buried layer of the same conductivity type as that of the substrate, but with a higher impurity concentration than that of the substrate, is provided beneath at least one of the peripheral circuit and memory array. A further region can extend from the buried layer, for example, to the surface of the semiconductor substrate, the buried layer and further region in combination acting as a shield to prevent minority carriers from penetrating to the device elements.

Abstract: A silicon on insulator substrate is provided to include the following: a handle wafer; a layer of bonding material; a device wafer, the device wafer including at least one buried impurity region extending from the layer of bonding material upward into the device wafer; and an epitaxial silicon layer provided on a second surface of the device wafer. The silicon on insulator substrate with this configuration can be made with a minimal possible thickness.

Abstract: In the semiconductor integrated circuit device, a first P+ type buried layer formed as an anode region and an N+ type diffused region formed in a cathode region are spaced from each other in the direction of the depth. This makes it possible to provide a semiconductor integrated circuit device in which a large depletion layer forming region can be provided in an N type region at a PN junction formed by first and second epitaxial layers and when a reverse bias voltage is applied to a diode element and in which a withstand voltage can be maintained by a depletion layer thus formed to prevent breakdown of elements in the device attributable to a breakdown current.

Abstract: A semiconductor device (20) includes an isolated p-well (22) formed in a substrate (21) by a buried n-well (25) and an n-well ring (24). The n-well ring (24) extends from a surface of the semiconductor device (20) to the buried n-well (25). The isolated p-well (22) includes a plurality of n-well plugs (27) extending from the surface of the semiconductor device (20) into the isolated p-well (22) and contacting the buried n-well (25). The plurality of n-well plugs (27) reduces an n-well resistance to provide better noise isolation for high frequency signals.

Abstract: A highly conductive region 18 serving as a surface of a drain layer 2 of a first conductivity type is diffused more deeply than a main diffused layer 36 and a diffused channel layer 37, and has a small conducting resistance. The highly conductive region 18 is surrounded by a diffused region 40 of a second conductivity type which comprises a diffused base layer 38 and a diffused guard ring layer 13. Therefore, the highly conductive region 18 does not form spherical junctions, and a depletion layer spreading in the highly conductive region 18 extends into the highly conductive region 18. The highly conductive region 18 thus has a high withstand voltage while maintaining the low conducting resistance.

Abstract: An insulating wall of a second conductivity type intended for separating elementary components formed in different wells of a semiconductive layer of a first conductivity type, a component located in one at least one of the wells being capable of operating with a high current density. The insulating wall includes at least two elementary insulating walls separated by a portion of the wafer material and, in operation, this portion is connected to a reference potential.

Abstract: It is an object to obtain a semiconductor device comprising a channel stop structure which is excellent in an effect of stabilizing a breakdown voltage and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor device. A silicon oxide film (2) is formed on an upper surface of an N−-type silicon substrate (1). An N+-type impurity implantation region (4) is formed in an upper surface (3) of the N−-type silicon substrate (1) in a portion exposed from the silicon oxide film (2). A deeper trench (5) than the N+-type impurity implantation region (4) is formed in the upper surface (3) of the N−-type silicon substrate (1). A silicon oxide film (6) is formed on an inner wall of the trench (5). A polysilicon film (7) is formed to fill in the trench (5). An aluminum electrode (8) is formed on the upper surface (3) of the N−-type silicon substrate (1).

Abstract: A charge pump formed in a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate is disclosed. The charge pump comprises a SOI layer formed on a substrate. Formed in the silicon of the SOI is a first p-body and a second p-body. Also formed in the silicon is a n+ region that extends down to the insulator so that the n+ region separates the first p-body and second p-body. Finally, a gate structure is formed atop of a portion of the first p-body and a portion of the n+ region. The gate structure is separated from the 1st p-body and n+ region by gate oxide, and it serves as charge pump capacitor. Both the diode turn-on (when gate is pulsing high and forward biasing the p-body to n+ junction), and GIDL current (when the gate is pulsing low, and generates GIDL hole currents from n+ surface to p-body) will result in a “short” of the p-body and n+ region; this ensures the proper operation of charge pump.

Abstract: The semiconductor device of the present invention includes: a semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type; source and drain regions of a second conductivity type, which are formed within the semiconductor layer; a channel region provided between the source and drain regions; and a gate electrode formed over the channel region. The device further includes: a buried region of the first conductivity type, at least part of the buried region being included in the drain region; and a heavily doped region of the second conductivity type. The heavily doped region is provided at least between a surface of the semiconductor layer and the buried region. The concentration of a dopant of the second conductivity type in the heavily doped region is higher than that of the dopant of the second conductivity type in the drain region.

Abstract: The specification describes techniques for isolating noisy subcircuits in integrated analog/digital devices. Isolation is obtained using a modification of triple well isolation wherein the deep isolation implant is restricted to the digital circuits only to prevent noise from the digital circuits from propagating to the analog sections through the buried implant. Resistor sections are also separated from the buried isolation implant.

Abstract: A two-terminal power diode has improved reverse bias breakdown voltage and on resistance includes a semiconductor body having two opposing surfaces and a superjunction structure therebetween, the superjunction structure including a plurality of alternating P and N doped regions aligned generally perpendicular to the two surfaces. The P and N doped regions can be parallel stripes or a mesh with each region being surrounded by doped material of opposite conductivity type. A diode junction associated with one surface can be an anode region with a gate controlled channel region connecting the anode region to the superjunction structure. Alternatively, the diode junction can comprise a metal forming a Schottky junction with the one surface. The superjunction structure is within the cathode and spaced from the anode. The spacing can be varied during device fabrication.

Abstract: A high-voltage transistor and fabrication process in which the fabrication of the high-voltage transistor can be readily integrated into a conventional CMOS fabrication process. The high-voltage transistor of the invention includes a channel region formed beneath a portion of the gate electrode after the gate electrode has been formed on the surface of a semiconductor substrate. In a preferred embodiment, the channel region is formed by the angled ion implantation of dopant atoms using an edge of the gate electrode as a doping mask. The high-voltage transistor of the invention further includes a drain region that is spaced apart from the channel region by a portion of a well region and by an isolation region residing in the semiconductor substrate. By utilizing the process of the invention to fabricate the high-voltage transistor, the transistor can be integrated into an existing CMOS device with minimal allocation of additional substrate surface area.

Abstract: The invention relates to a semiconductor configuration in which electrodes are insulated by a gas-filled or evacuated cavity. The semiconductor configuration includes at least two rigid electrodes; body regions; an active zone; a drift path; and an insulating device electrically isolating the at least two electrodes from each another. At least one of the at least two electrodes is a trench electrode electrically connected to the active zone. The insulating device includes a structure selected from the group consisting of at least one insulating or holding layer and a pn junction. The insulating device is further formed with at least one cavity. The trench electrode is isolated from the drift path by the cavity and surrounded by the cavity.

Abstract: A memory array and some addressing circuitry therefor are formed by creating circuit elements at the crossing-points of two layers of electrode conductors that are separated by a layer of a semiconductor material. The circuit elements formed at the crossing-points function as data storage devices in the memory array, and function as connections for a permuted addressing scheme for addressing the elements in the array. In order to construct the addressing circuitry, the electrode conductors are fabricated with a controlled geometry at selected crossing-points such that selected circuit elements have increased or decreased cross-sectional area. By applying a programming electrical signal to the electrodes, the electrical characteristics (e.g. resistance) of selected circuit elements can be changed according to the controlled electrode geometry.

Abstract: A device and a method are provided for isolating a circuit well from a substrate of the same conductivity type. In particular, an integrated circuit is provided which includes a circuit well arranged over a semiconductor substrate with no layer of opposite conductivity type arranged between the well and the substrate. The integrated circuit may further include a pair of isolation wells extending along opposite lateral boundaries of the circuit well. The isolation wells and circuit well may be adapted such that a single continuous depletion region underlying the circuit well may be formed upon application of an isolation voltage between the substrate and the pair of isolation wells. The formation of such a depletion region may beneficially isolate the circuit well from the underlying substrate.

Abstract: In an optical module having a silicon substrate, a plurality of optical semiconductor devices and optical waveguides for performing transmission of optical signals by the semiconductor devices integrated on the silicon substrate, the silicon substrate is doped with an impurity to increase the number of carriers in the silicon substrate for suppressing optical crosstalk between the plurality of optical semiconductor devices, the optical waveguide is composed of a core part and a peripheral cladding layer of the core part, or optical fibers each coupled with each of the semiconductor devices, and an electrical resistivity of part or all of the silicon substrate is 0.

Abstract: Disclosed is a semiconductor device, such as a semiconductor memory device, having structure wherein invasion of minority carriers from the semiconductor substrate into components of the device, formed on the substrate, can be avoided. The semiconductor memory device can be an SRAM or DRAM, for example, and includes a memory array and peripheral circuit on a substrate. In one aspect of the present invention, a buried layer of the same conductivity type as that of the substrate, but with a higher impurity concentration than that of the substrate, is provided beneath at least one of the peripheral circuit and memory array. A further region can extend from the buried layer, for example, to the surface of the semiconductor substrate, the buried layer and further region in combination acting as a shield to prevent minority carriers from penetrating to the device elements.

Abstract: A configuration for voltage buffering in dynamic memories based on CMOS technology uses the capacitance of a well structure for buffering the amplified word line voltage or the negative word line reverse voltage.

Abstract: A semiconductor component having a structure for avoiding parallel-path currents in the semiconductor component includes a substrate of a first conductivity type having a surface. A plurality of separate wells of a second conductivity type with a more highly doped edge layer of the second conductivity type are disposed at the surface of the substrate and are isolated from one another by pn junctions. At least one of the wells is completely surrounded by an insulating well of the first conductivity type. The doping of the insulating well is higher than that of the substrate. A method for fabricating a semiconductor component is also provided.

Abstract: According to a first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of PN junctions are formed at the surface of a semiconductor substrate under a belt-like conductive film having a spiral shape which constitutes an inductance device. An inverted bias voltage is applied to the PN junctions, and the surface of the substrate is completely depleted. Since the inverted bias voltage is applied to the PN junctions, even though the impurity density of the surface of the substrate is high and the adjacent PN junctions are separated to a degree, the extension of the depletion layers can be increased and complete depletion of the surface of the substrate can be achieved.

Abstract: A compensation component includes a drift path formed of p-conducting and n-conducting layers which are led around or along a trench. A process for producing the compensation component is also provided.

Abstract: A semiconductor device with digital and analog circuits has a structure for preventing noise penetration from the digital circuit to the analog circuit. The semiconductor device has a semiconductor substrate, first and second wells independently formed at a surface of the semiconductor substrate, the digital circuit formed at a surface of the first well, and the analog circuit formed at a surface of the second well. The specific resistance of the semiconductor substrate is at least 1000 times as large as the specific resistance of the first well. A conductive guard-ring may be formed in the surface of an area that is between the digital circuit and the second well or between the first well and the second well.

Abstract: An RF circuit may be formed over a triple well that creates two reverse biased junctions. By adjusting the bias across the junctions, the capacitance across the junctions can be reduced, reducing the capacitive coupling from the RF circuits to the substrate, improving the self-resonance frequency of inductors and reducing the coupling of unwanted signals and noise from the underlying substrate to the active circuits and passive components such as the capacitors and inductors. As a result, radio frequency devices, such as radios, cellular telephones and transceivers such as Bluetooth transceivers, logic devices and Flash and SRAM memory devices may all be formed in the same integrated circuit die using CMOS fabrication processes.

Abstract: In a semiconductor substrate, functional circuit structures and dummy structures are bounded by an insulation well that includes a buried diffusion region and a peripherally encompassing depth diffusion. A peripheral contact diffusion is additionally provided within a surface region defined by the depth diffusion.

Abstract: The present invention provides a layout structure of an interconnection which feeds a fixed voltage level to a sense amplifier provided in a cell array block of a semiconductor memory device, wherein the interconnection selectively extends only an inside of an outside edge of a second conductivity type outside well region provided along one peripheral side of a first conductivity type well region, in which the cell array block is provided.

Abstract: The semiconductor device has a triple well structure. The triple well and other wells have impurity concentration distributions in the depth direction, which are determined in accordance with required function. Thereby, the required performances such as suppression of a leak current can be achieved even in a miniaturized structure.

Abstract: A semiconductor device includes: a photosensitive section essentially composed of a PN junction between a semiconductor multilayer structure of the first conductivity type and a first semiconductor layer of the second conductivity type; and a partitioning portion for splitting the photosensitive section into a plurality of regions. The semiconductor multilayer structure of the first conductivity type includes: a semiconductor substrate of the first conductivity type; a first semiconductor layer of the first conductivity type; and a second semiconductor layer of the first conductivity type. The partitioning portion includes a third semiconductor layer of the first conductivity type extending from the first semiconductor layer of the second conductivity type so as to reach the second semiconductor layer of the first conductivity type.

Abstract: A silicon chip built-in inductor structure. The structure at least includes a substrate, a plurality of active devices on the substrate, a dielectric layer with a planarized upper surface and an inductor device. The substrate can be divided into an active device region and a region containing grid-like field oxide devices. The grid-like field oxide region has a plurality of field oxide layers, a plurality of first-type-ion-doped regions underneath the field oxide layers and a plurality of second-type-ion-doped region in the substrate between the various field oxide layers. A plurality of junction regions are formed between the first-type-ion-doped regions and the second-type-ion-doped regions. The junction regions impede the flow of an eddy current along a prescribed direction. A dielectric layer is formed over the substrate covering the active devices and the field oxide devices. The inductor device is formed on the dielectric layer above the field oxide devices.

Abstract: An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit including a silicon controlled rectifier having a plurality of SCR fingers. Each SCR finger includes at least one interspersed high-doped first region formed within a first lightly doped region. At least one interspersed high-doped second region are formed within a second lightly doped region, where the first and second lightly doped regions are adjacent one another. At least one first trigger-tap is coupled to the second lightly doped region. Additionally, at least one first low-ohmic connection is respectively coupled between the at least one first trigger tap of each SCR finger.

Abstract: A monolithic assembly of a vertical fast diode with at least one additional vertical component, in which the fast diode is formed by an N-type substrate in one surface of which an N+-type continuous region is formed and in the other surface of which a P+-type discontinuous region is formed. The bottom surface of the assembly is coated with a single metallization. The other vertical component is, for example, a diode.

Abstract: A low impurity concentration semiconductor layer (2) of n−-type is formed by epitaxial growth method on a high impurity concentration semiconductor substrate (1) of n+-type. A plurality of p+-type semiconductor regions (6) are formed in the surface side of the semiconductor layer (2). On the surface of the semiconductor layer and p+-type semiconductor regions, a metal layer (3) is provided to form Schottky barrier with the semiconductor layer (2). Further, p+-type semiconductor regions are arranged regularly so that the plan configuration of each of the semiconductor regions on the surface side of n−-type semiconductor layer is a circularity or a polygon, and that the furthest portion of the plan configulation neighbors or overlaps with immediate adjacent ones, or so that the ratio of the total area of the semiconductor regions (6) to the other portion except for the regions is (2 to 6):1.

Abstract: A power supply circuit and an oscillation circuit or the like of noise generation sources are concentrated, and the periphery thereof is surrounded by a guard ring. Guard ring is provided to have bonding pads at least partially thereon. Guard ring is effectively provided utilizing the region below bonding pads, so that effective noise reduction is achieved while preventing increase in chip area.

Abstract: This invention clarifies the effects of parameters and enables the mass production of a super-junction semiconductor device, which has a drift layer composed of a parallel pn layer that conducts electricity in the ON state and is depleted in the OFF state. The quantity of impurities in n drift regions is within the range between 100% and 150% or between 110% and 150% of the quantity of impurities in p partition regions. The impurity density of either one of the n drift regions and the p partition regions is within the range between 92% and 108% of the impurity density of the other regions. In addition, the width of either one of the n drift regions and the p partition regions is within the range between 94% and 106% of the width of the other regions.

Abstract: An integrated circuit is provided in which a relatively low band gap material is used as a semiconductor device layer and in which an underlying high (wide) band gap material is used as an insulating layer. The insulating material has a high thermal conductivity to allow heat dissipation in conjunction with dielectric isolation. The integrated circuit includes one or more semiconductor wells which are each surrounded on their sides by an insulating material. The bottom of the semiconductor wells are disposed atop the high band gap material which provides both electrical isolation and thermal conductivity. A semiconductor substrate may be provided to support the high band gap material. A layer of insulating material may also be provided between the high band gap material and the semiconductor substrate.

Abstract: An integrated circuit has a guard ring for shielding a first area 14 (eg. high voltage area) from a second area 15 (eg. low voltage). The guard ring comprises a conductive guard ring 6, (eg. metal), which is partially exposed through a passivation layer 13 in the integrated circuit 1. A semiconductor guard ring 8, (eg. silicon), is isolated from the first and second areas of semiconductor by at least two trench rings 16, one located on each side of the semiconductor guard ring 8. A plurality of conductive elements (comprising a metal connection plate 18 and via 19) connect the conductive guard ring 6 and the semiconductor guard ring 8 at spaced apart intervals. The conductive guard ring 6, semiconductor guard ring 8 and conductive elements are all connected to a ground source. If high energy particles move from the first area towards the second area, they are attracted to the exposed metal, and their charge is conducted to ground.