Patent ID: 7826193

Claim:
An ESD protection apparatus connected to a pad for protecting an internal circuit from damage due to an ESD voltage appearing on the pad, the apparatus comprising: a ground pad; and a clamp means connected between the pad and the ground pad for clamping the ESD voltage and allowing a high ESD current to be discharged to the ground pad, the clamp means including a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the clamp means further includes a set of string contacts for an electrical connection between the first terminal and second terminal, each of the string contacts having a short side defined by a given design rule and a long side being substantially longer than the short side for discharging the high ESD current to the ground pad in a uniform manner to prevent a localized contact damage, wherein the first terminal is coupled to the pad and the second terminal is coupled to the ground pad by one or more conductive layers through the string contact.