Patent ID: 7851349

Claim:
A method for producing a connection electrode for a first semiconductor zone and a second semiconductor zone, which are arranged one above another and are doped complementarily with respect to one another, the method comprising: producing a trench extending through the first semiconductor zone and into the second semiconductor zone in such a way that the first semiconductor zone is uncovered at sidewalls of the trench and the second semiconductor zone is uncovered at least at a bottom of the trench, applying a protective layer to a first one of the first and second semiconductor zones in the trench, such that it leaves a second one of the first and second semiconductor zones within the trench at least partly uncovered producing a first connection zone in the second one of the first and second semiconductor zones that is at least part uncovered by the protective layer, by introducing dopant atoms using an implantation process into the second one of the first and second semiconductor zones via the trench, the first connection zone being of the same conductivity type as, and doped more highly than, the second one of the first and second semiconductor zones, depositing an electrode layer at least onto the sidewalls and the bottom of the trench for the purpose of producing the connection electrode, and wherein the protective layer substantially prevents dopant atoms from being implanted into the first one of the first and second semiconductor zones during the implantation process used to form the first connection zone.