Patent ID: 7154162

Claim:
A capacitor formed on a semiconductor substrate, the capacitor comprising: a first electrode region of a first stair-stepped metal layer; a contact region that is a part of the first stair-stepped metal layer; a second electrode of a second metal layer that is closer to the substrate than the first stair-stepped metal layer; a dielectric layer intermediate the first electrode region and the second electrode, the dielectric layer including a contact opening therethrough in the vicinity of the contact region, wherein the first stair-stepped metal layer in a stair-stepped region thereof steps laterally and downwardly across the dielectric layer and into and at least partway laterally across the contact opening; and a wire electrically coupled to and in contact with a bottom surface of the contact region of the first stair-stepped metal layer through the contact opening in the dielectric layer, wherein the first electrode region is electrically coupled to the wire through the contact opening in the dielectric layer.