Patent ID: 8445956

Claim:
A semiconductor device comprising: a semiconductor substrate with an active region and a margin region adjacent to the active region, wherein the active region comprises trenches filled with conductive material in the semiconductor substrate, wherein the conductive material in the trenches is insulated from the semiconductor substrate by an insulation layer, wherein a semiconductor mesa structure is formed between each two trenches, wherein a contact structure comprising a contact layer insulated from the semiconductor substrate is provided in the margin region, wherein a spacer layer with a thickness varying from location to location is formed over the contact layer in the margin region, wherein the spacer layer in the margin region over the contact layer has a first portion having a first thickness of the spacer layer and a second portion having a second thickness of the spacer layer, wherein the first thickness is lower than the second thickness, wherein the spacer layer, at a location in the margin region, is removed to the contact layer, wherein the location, at which the spacer layer is removed to the contact layer is located in the first portion of the spacer layer in the margin region having the first thickness being lower than the second thickness; and wherein the contact structure in the margin region is formed below the spacer layer in the margin region such that the thickness varying from location to location is obtained, and wherein the thickness of the spacer layer at the location, at which the spacer layer is removed, is smaller than or equal to a thickness of a spacer layer in the active region, by which a contact of the semiconductor mesa structure in the active region is laterally bounded.