Semiconductor device with self-protecting fuse

A semiconductor device comprising:

• a substrate having an active region and a grounded dummy feature formed in the substrate;
• a gate stack formed over the active region;
• a dielectric material layer over the substrate and the gate stack;
• a first electrical contact in contact with the gate stack and a second electrical contact electrically connected to the dummy feature;
• a plurality of patterned metal layers, each of the patterned metal layers having a first metal pattern and a second metal pattern electrically connected to the first contact and the second contact, respectively, and the first metal pattern and second metal pattern separated by intermetal dielectric layers;
• a passivation layer over a topmost layer of the patterned metal layers;
• a first metal pad electrically connected to the first electrical contact, and a second metal pad electrically connected to the second electrical contact;
• and
• matching stubs on two metal features, wherein the first of two metal features is directly connected to the first electrical contact and the second of two metal features is directly connected to the second electrical contact, and the two metal features are the first metal pad and the second metal pad, or the first pattern and the second pattern in one of the plurality of patterned metal layers.