A method for making a semiconductor device is provided which comprises (a)
creating a first data set (301) which defines a first set of tiles (303)
for a trench chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process; (b) deriving a
first trench CMP mask set (307) and a first epitaxial growth mask set
(309) from the first data set, wherein the first epitaxial growth mask
set is derived from the first data set by removing a subset (305) of the
tiles defined by the first data set and incorporating the subset of tiles
into the first epitaxial growth mask set; and (c) reconfiguring the first
trench CMP mask set to account for the first epitaxial growth mask set,
thereby defining a second trench CMP mask set (308).