| CPC H01L 23/535 (2013.01) [H01L 21/76805 (2013.01); H01L 21/76831 (2013.01); H01L 21/7684 (2013.01); H01L 21/76895 (2013.01); H01L 23/5283 (2013.01); H01L 23/53266 (2013.01); H01L 23/53271 (2013.01); H01L 23/5329 (2013.01)] | 9 Claims |

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1. A conductor-filled via formed between an interconnection conductor layer and two or more steps of a staircase structure in conjunction with a 3-dimensional array of memory cells formed above a planar surface of a semiconductor substrate, wherein (i) the staircase structure comprises a plurality of steps, (ii) each step comprises a plurality of layers, one on top of another, including, a source line layer at the top of each of the two or more steps of the staircase structure and an additional conductive layer; and (iii) the conductor-filled via is formed inside a spacer insulator that exposes the source line layers at the top of each of the two or more steps of the staircase structure and which insulates the conductor-filled via from the additional conductive layers in the two or more steps of the staircase structure.
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