Radiation-emitting semiconductor chip with built-in ESD protection

It is a radiation-emitting semiconductor chip (1) having a based on a nitride compound semiconductor material the semiconductor layer sequence (2) having a pn junction indicated comprising - having a first protective layer (3), the deliberately introduced crystal defects (4), - a second protective layer (5) having a higher doping (n2) than the first protective layer (3), wherein the first and the second protective layer (3, 5) to protect the semiconductor chips (1) are provided against electrostatic discharge pulses, - an active zone (7) for generating radiation corresponding to the first and the second protective layer (3, 5) in the growth direction (W) is disposed downstream, wherein in operation of the semiconductor chip (1) a breakdown behavior of the semiconductor layer sequence (2) in the reverse direction in areas having a crystal defect (4) from areas without crystal defects is different, and wherein in electrostatic discharge pulses electric charge homogeneously distributed over the areas with crystal defects (4) is derived.