Patent ID: 7351614

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a thyristor-based semiconductor device having a substrate, a thyristor and a pass device, wherein at least one body region of the thyristor is in the substrate, the method comprising: removing a portion of the substrate and forming a trench in the substrate and laterally adjacent to said at least one thyristor body region; forming an insulative material in the trench; forming conductive filler material in the trench; masking a first portion of the conductive filler material and etching an unmasked portion of the conductive filler material, thereby forming upper and lower portions of the conductive filler material; forming an insulative liner material on the etched conductive filler material; and forming at least two adjacent thyristor control ports in the trench and separated from one another by a portion of the upper conductive filler material, at least one of the thyristor control ports being adapted for capacitively coupling to the thyristor body region in the substrate and for controlling current in the thyristor body, wherein the insulative material and the conductive filler material are configured and arranged to electrically insulate the adjacent thyristor control ports from each other.