Patent ID: 8355227

Claim:
An apparatus formed on a substrate, the apparatus comprising: a pad; electrostatic discharge circuitry; and a metal damping resistor connected between the pad and the electrostatic discharge circuitry, the metal damping resistor being configured to conduct an electrostatic discharge between the pad and the electrostatic discharge circuitry; where the metal damping resistor comprises a first planar metal portion separated from a second planar metal portion by a dielectric layer disposed therebetween, the plane of the first planar metal portion being oriented in substantially parallel relationship to the plane of the second planar metal portion; and where the first planar metal portion is coupled to the second planar metal portion by a metal via that extends through the dielectric layer between the first planar metal portion and the second planar metal portion in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the first planar metal portion and the second planar metal portion; and where the electrostatic discharge circuitry comprises active circuitry formed on the substrate; where the first planar metal portion is coupled to the active circuitry on the substrate by a metal via that extends in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the first planar metal portion and the second planar metal portion; and where the active circuitry is disposed between the substrate and the first planar metal portion, and where the first planar metal portion is disposed between the active circuitry and the second planar metal portion.