A self-limiting electrosurgical return electrode for use with electrosurgical procedures is disclosed. A method of: immersing a nonconductive article in a solution of RuO4 and a nonpolar solvent at a temperature that is below the temperature at which RuO4 decomposes to RuO2 in the nonpolar solvent in the presence of the article; and warming the article and solution to ambient temperature under ambient conditions to cause the formation of a RuO2 coating on a portion of the article. The method further comprises patterning a sacrificial layer over the first plurality of semiconductor structures using the second photolithographic mask. The output signal is processed to identify cyclical and non-cyclical variations in light intensity. The gate of the output transistor is coupled to a bias voltage and to the drain of an additional transistor, the gate of which is coupled to said common node so that the potential on the gate of the output transistor can vary to have both transistors of the third stage in the saturation state for a wide range of the current flowing through the transistors of the half cascode current mirror. The low sub-threshold value may be a tolerable voltage difference above the expected low trigger point.