Patent ID: 8193092

Claim:
A method of fabricating a semiconductor device, comprising: forming a conductive feature extending through a semiconductor substrate, wherein the conductive feature has a first end and a second end opposite the first end, and wherein the second end projects outwardly from a surface of the substrate; forming a dielectric layer over the surface of the substrate and the second end of the conductive feature, wherein the dielectric layer has a first thickness; removing a portion of the dielectric layer to an intermediate depth less than the first thickness such that at least a portion of the second end of the conductive feature is exposed without exposing the surface of the substrate through a remaining portion of the dielectric layer, the remaining portion of the dielectric layer at least substantially covering the surface of the substrate; and wherein removing a portion of the dielectric layer comprises forming a depression extending to an intermediate depth in the dielectric layer at the second end of the conductive feature such that at least a portion of the second end of the conductive feature is exposed in the depression and such that the depression has a floor spaced apart from the surface of the substrate by a second distance less than the first thickness of the dielectric layer, the floor being adjacent to the second end of the conductive feature and a portion of the dielectric layer extending laterally outward from the depression being thicker than the second distance.