US Patent 12137558 Staircase structure for memory device

A semiconductor structure is disclosed. The semiconductor structure includes a staircase structure disposed over a substrate. The staircase structure includes a plurality of layer stacks, where each layer stack is made of a first material layer over a portion of a second material layer. The staircase structure further includes a plurality of landing pads, where each landing pad is disposed over another portion of the second material layer of a respective layer stack.