Patent ID: 8049278

Claim:
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) device, comprising: a substrate; a high voltage terminal having a low-doped well formed in the substrate, and a first contact, coupled to the low doped well, that has a perimeter located within a perimeter of the low-doped well; a punch-through terminal having a diffusion area formed in the substrate, and a second contact, coupled to the diffusion area, that touches the substrate, wherein a concentration level of a dopant in the low-doped well has a peak level of 8×10 16 /cm 3 and is less than a concentration level of the dopant in the diffusion area, wherein the substrate and the low-doped well are configured to form a depletion region between the low-doped well and the substrate when a reverse bias voltage is applied to the low-doped well and the substrate, and wherein the substrate, the low-doped well, and the diffusion area are configured to form a current discharging path between the first contact and the second contact when the depletion region comes into contact with the diffusion area.