FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method 300 of making a semiconductor device in accordance with some embodiments. In operation 302, a mask pattern is formed on a suitable substrate. In operation 304, exposed regions of the substrate are etched to form a trench or trench opening. A series of alternating dielectric and conductive layers are then deposited, in operation 306, on the etched substrate to form a basic trench capacitor structure including N pairs of dielectric and conductive layers. The resulting structure is planarized, in operation 308, to remove those portions of the alternating dielectric and conductive layers that extend above a plane defined by the substrate surface and form the final capacitor structure. In operation 310, an interlayer dielectric (ILD) layer is deposited on the planarized surface. A series of contact openings are formed through the ILD layer, in operation 312, to expose surface regions of the conductive layers. In operation 314, a conductive pattern is then formed on the ILD layer in order to establish electrical connections between the trench capacitor and other electrical components.

In some embodiments, an order of operations for the method 300 is adjusted. In some embodiments, at least one process of method 300 is omitted. In some embodiments, at least one process is added to method 300 to form a final semiconductor device.