Patent ID: 7518192

Claim:
A semiconductor structure for electrostatic discharge protection comprising: a substrate; a gate electrode; a first source/drain region and a second source/drain region adjacent respective sides of the gate electrode; contact plugs electrically coupled to the first source/drain region and the second source/drain region; metal lines electrically coupled to the contact plugs, wherein the metal lines are in a first metallization layer over the contact plugs and are located in a plane that is substantially parallel to a major surface of the substrate; a plurality of first level openings over and electrically coupled to the metal lines, at least one first level opening electrically coupled to the first source/drain region and at least one first level opening coupled to the second source/drain region; wherein the at least one first level opening electrically coupled to the first source/drain region is offset from lines running parallel to the major surface of the substrate and extending from each first level opening electrically coupled to the second source/drain region and substantially parallel to the flow of current between the first source/drain region and the second source/drain region; and wherein the first level openings are filled with conductive materials.