Patent ID: 8921904

Claim:
A semiconductor device comprising: a semiconductor substrate; and a gate structure overlying the semiconductor substrate, wherein the gate structure includes: a first gate portion of a conductive gate electrode material and a second gate portion of the conductive gate electrode material; and an interconnecting portion of the conductive gate electrode material, wherein the interconnecting portion is contiguous with the first gate portion and the second gate portion; a first dielectric material disposed between the first gate portion and the second gate portion; and a second dielectric material disposed between the first gate portion and the first dielectric material and between the second gate portion and the first dielectric material wherein at least a portion of the first dielectric material directly contacts at least a portion of the interconnecting portion; wherein: the second dielectric material includes a first portion that extends longitudinally from the first gate portion toward the second gate portion and a second portion that extends longitudinally from the second gate portion toward the first gate portion; the first portion of the second dielectric material directly contacts the interconnecting portion; the second portion of the second dielectric material directly contacts the interconnecting portion; and the first dielectric material directly contacts the interconnecting portion between the first portion of the second dielectric material and the second portion of the second dielectric material.