ESD protection for semiconductor products

A method of forming as ESD protection device comprising the steps of:

• forming spaced apart surface isolation regions in a substrate of a first polarity type;
• forming an insulated gate on the surface of a substrate of a first conductivity type;
• forming two LDD regions of a second conductivity type on opposite sides of said gate, each of said LDD regions having a first end proximate to said opposite sides of said gate;
• forming a source region and a drain region on said opposite sides of said gate which are spaced apart from said opposite sides of said gate, said source and drain regions being of said second conductivity type;
• heterodoping dopants of the first conductivity type into the entirety of a surface region that is inside a closed figure and only inside said closed figure, and dopants of the second conductivity type into the entirety of said surface region inside said closed figure and only inside said closed figure through said source and drain regions into said substrate, said surface region being between, and spaced apart from, the gate and the surface isolation region closest to the gate to form p-n junctions having retrograde doping profiles for lowering the breakdown voltage within said heterodoped portions in order to direct a substantial portion of the breakdown current below the surface of said substrate and into the body of said substrate between said heterodoped regions.