Patent ID: 8144441

Claim:
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit, comprising: a first terminal and a second terminal; a transistor shunt element operably coupled between the first terminal and the second terminal, the transistor shunt element to provide a discharge path between the first terminal and the second terminal for both a positive discharge event and a negative discharge event, wherein the transistor shunt element is an enhancement-mode compound semiconductor field effect transistor; and a shut-off element operably coupled with the second terminal, the shut-off element capable of keeping the transistor shunt element turned-off, wherein the ESD protection circuit is fabricated in a compound semiconductor field effect transistor technology that is a pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) technology or a metamorphic high electron mobility transistor (mHEMT) technology, and the ESD protection circuit is fabricated using a compound semiconductor material.