Electrostatic discharge protection device

An electrostatic discharge protection device for reducing electrostatic discharge spikes on a signal line is disclosed. The electrostatic discharge protection device includes first and second contact regions formed in a semiconductor material such as a compound semiconductor substrate. A first terminal is electrically coupled between the signal line and the first contact region. A second terminal is electrically coupled between the second contact region and a sink such as ground. An isolation region is formed in the semiconductor material between the first and second contact regions. The isolation region may be an implant-damaged region of the semiconductor material. The electrostatic discharge protection device provides protection against electrostatic discharges for integrated circuit components, while adding only a small amount of parasitic capacitance to I/O lines, which is particularly important in RF signal processing circuitry.