IC excess current detection scheme

The present invention is generally related to the field of mass storage devices including a hard disk drive (HDD) controllers, and more particularly to detecting excess current on servo driver IC's. The present invention achieves technical advantages as a circuit () detecting excess current on a servo driver IC and preventing the disruptive damage which can be caused by the excess current. Typically, an isolation (Iso) FET is part of the servo driver IC. The detection circuitry () has a sensing FET () having only a small silicon area whereby the detection circuit () is independent of the Iso FET current (Icc) path, being in parallel rather than in series. The detection circuitry also allows production tests on much smaller current thresholds.