embodiments of the present invention allow gate structures to be contacted over an active region while ensuring that such contacts do not short to the diffusion region or neighboring gate structures . referring to fig1 , a diagram of a processor 100 is shown . processor 100 is a generic mosfet processor that has gate structures 102 a , 102 b , and 102 c , which are formed on active regions . the active regions can be planar , as shown , or they can be fins , nanowires , etc . diffusion regions 104 are alongside the active regions and between gate structures 102 a , 102 b , and 102 c . gate structures 102 a , 102 b , and 102 c are , as pictured in fig1 , encapsulated by an insulating layer , shown as dark gray , on the top and two sides of the gate structures . according to an embodiment of the present invention , gate structures 102 a , 102 b , and 102 c can be at a pitch of 50 nm - 100 nm . however , even smaller pitches can be contemplated . referring to fig2 & amp ; 12 , processor 100 is depicted after the completion of operation s 10 . in operation s 10 , a first dielectric layer 202 is deposited on processor 100 . as shown in fig2 , diffusion regions 104 and gate structures 102 a , 102 b , and 102 c are covered by first dielectric layer 202 . first dielectric layer 202 can include a middle of the line ( mol ) dielectric , such as sio 2 or sicoh . referring to fig3 & amp ; 12 , processor 100 is shown after operation s 20 has been performed . in operation s 20 , first trenches 302 a and 302 b are formed through first dielectric layer 202 to expose a portion of diffusion regions 104 between gate structures 102 a , 102 b , and 102 c . as depicted in fig3 , first trench 302 a exposes a portion of diffusion region 104 that is between gate structures 102 a and 102 b . first trench 302 b exposes a portion of diffusion region 104 that is between gate structures 102 b and 102 c . following the formation of first trenches 302 a and 302 b , silicide is formed on the exposed portions of diffusion region 104 at the bottom of the trenches . the process of forming silicide in such a manner is well known in the art . fig3 depicts first trench 302 a between gate structures 102 a and 102 b , and first trench 302 b between gate structures 102 b and 102 c . first trenches 302 a and 302 b are depicted as being formed at the midpoint of gate structures 102 a , 102 b , and 102 c . however , the present invention is not limited to this design . the trenches can be formed at any position along the width ( z direction ) of the gate structures . further , multiple trenches can be formed between a given pair of gate structures , as opposed to what is shown in fig3 , where one trench is formed between the given pair of gate structures . referring to fig4 & amp ; 12 , processor 100 is depicted following the completion of operation s 30 . in operation s 30 , first trenches 302 a and 302 b are filled with an insulating material . the insulating material used to fill the trenches can be a dielectric , such as silicon nitride ( si 3 n 4 ). the material used in this operation to fill first trenches 302 a and 302 b is different than the material used in first dielectric layer 202 . the process performed in operations s 20 and s 30 is a standard trench contact module , know by those skilled in the art , but with one difference . the only difference is that in operation s 30 , an insulating material is used as a fill instead of a metal that would be used in the standard trench contact module . after the trenches are filled with the insulating material , an etch back or polish of the trenches is performed . following the etch back or polish of first trenches 302 a and 302 b , processor 100 is planarized . referring to fig5 & amp ; 12 , processor 100 is shown after operation s 40 has been performed . in operation s 40 , first gate contact 502 is formed above gate structure 102 b and between first trenches 302 a and 302 b . as shown in fig5 , first gate contact 502 is formed through first dielectric layer 202 and through the insulating layer that is on the top side of gate structure 102 b . according to an embodiment of the present invention , one or more gate contacts can be formed above a gate structure when there are one or more pairs trenches formed along the gate structure . first gate contact 502 can be formed so that it is shorter ( in the y direction ) than first trenches 302 a and 302 b . first trenches 302 a and 302 b can also be wider ( in the z direction ) than first gate contact 502 . this is ideal in preventing first gate contact 502 from shorting to the diffusion region . first gate contact 502 is protected from shorting to the diffusion regions below and neighboring gates by the insulating material that fills first trenches 302 a and 302 b . also , to further prevent shorting to the diffusion or neighboring gate structures , first trenches 302 a and 302 b are longer ( y direction ) and wider ( z direction ) than first gate contact 502 . referring to fig6 & amp ; 12 , processor 100 is depicted after the completion of operation s 50 . in operation s 50 , first gate contact 502 is filled with a first contact fill . the first contact fill can include a conductive material such as a metal , for example , titanium , titanium nitride , tungsten , aluminum , copper , platinum , tantalum , tantalum nitride , or any combination thereof . standard contact processing can be used in order to deposit the first contact fill in first gate contact 502 . after first gate contact 502 is filled with the first contact fill , first gate contact 502 is planarized in the same manner as first trenches 302 a and 302 b , described above . referring to fig7 & amp ; 12 , processor 100 is shown after operation s 60 has been performed . in operation s 60 , second dielectric layer 702 is deposited on processor 100 . as illustrated in fig7 , second dielectric layer 702 covers first trenches 302 a and 302 b , first gate contact 502 , and first dielectric layer 202 . second dielectric layer 702 , just like first dielectric layer 202 , can be a middle of the line ( mol ) dielectric . referring to fig8 & amp ; 12 , processor 100 is shown following the completion of operation s 70 . in operation s 70 , second trenches 802 a and 802 b are formed through both first dielectric layer 202 and second dielectric layer 702 . as depicted in fig8 , second trenches 802 a and 802 b are formed between gate structures 102 a , 102 b , and 102 c . second trench 802 a exposes a portion of diffusion region 104 between gate structures 102 a and 102 b and second trench 802 b exposes a portion of diffusion region 104 between gate structures 102 b and 102 c . second trenches 802 a and 802 b are formed at different locations along the width ( z - direction ) of gate structure 102 b than first trenches 302 a and 302 b . following the formation of the trenches , silicide is formed on the exposed portions of diffusion region 104 at the bottom of the trenches . second trenches 802 a and 802 b can be contiguous with first trenches 302 a and 302 b , and second trenches 802 a and 802 b must not contact first gate contact 502 . fig8 depicts second trench 802 a between gate structures 102 a and 102 b , and second trench 802 b between gate structures 102 b and 102 c . second trenches 802 a and 802 b are depicted as being formed at the endpoint of gate structures 102 a , 102 b , and 102 c . however , the present invention is not limited to this design . second trenches 802 a and 802 b can be formed at multiple positions along the width ( z - direction ) of the gate structures . for example , a pair of first trenches can be formed at the midpoint of the gate structure and two pair of second trenches can be formed at the ends of the gate structure . as another example , two pairs of first trenches can be formed at the ends of the gate structure and a pair of second trenches can be formed at the midpoint of the gate structure . the designer has the freedom to choose the arrangement of the processor and the arrangement of the first and second trenches . referring to fig9 & amp ; 12 , processor 100 is shown following the completion of operation s 80 . in operation s 80 , second trenches 802 a and 802 b are filled with a conductive material . the conductive material used to fill the trenches can be metal , such as titanium , titanium nitride , tungsten , aluminum , copper , platinum , tantalum , tantalum nitride , or any combination thereof . after the trenches are filled , an etch back or polish of the trenches is performed in order to planarize processor 100 . the process performed in operations s 70 and s 80 is a standard trench contact module and is know by those skilled in the art . the prior trench contact module from operations s 20 and s 30 is similar to the trench contact module performed here , except an insulating material was used as a fill instead of the conductive material used in here . referring to fig1 & amp ; 12 , processor 100 is depicted after operation s 90 has been performed . in operation s 90 , second gate contact 1002 is formed above first gate contact 502 . as illustrated in fig1 , second gate contact 1002 is a contact via formed through second dielectric layer 702 to contact first gate contact 502 . however , second gate contact 1002 does not contact second trenches 802 a and 802 b . first trenches 302 a and 302 b help to prevent second gate contact 1002 from shorting to the diffusion region , and they give the designer tolerance when forming second gate contact 1002 . first trenches 302 a and 302 b prevent shorting to the diffusion region and neighboring gate structures , and thus allows the designer more overlay tolerance . referring to fig1 & amp ; 12 , processor 100 is shown following the completion of operation s 100 . in operation s 100 , second gate contact 1002 is filled with a second contact fill . the second contact fill is a metal and can include , for example , titanium , titanium nitride , tungsten , aluminum , copper , platinum , tantalum , tantalum nitride , or any combination thereof . standard contact processing can be used in order to deposit the second contact fill in second gate contact 1002 . after second gate contact 1002 is filled with the second contact fill , second gate contact 1002 is planarized . the resulting structure after the completion of operations in fig1 includes a semiconductor device with self - aligned gate contacts over an active area . first trenches 302 a and 302 b are formed through first dielectric layer 202 and between gate structures 102 a , 102 b , and 102 c . first gate contact 502 contacts gate structure 102 b and is formed between first trenches 302 a and 302 b . second trenches 802 a and 802 b are formed through first dielectric layer 202 and second dielectric layer 702 . second gate contact 1002 is formed so that it contacts first gate contact 502 but does not contact second trenches 802 a and 802 b . the design of the device prevents the gate contacts from shorting to diffusion region 104 and neighboring gate structures 102 a and 102 c due to an insulating material that fills first trenches 302 a and 302 b . the overall design of the device allows for greater flexibility and gives the designer of the fet extra overlay tolerance . the descriptions of the various embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration , but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed . many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments . the terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the embodiments , the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace , or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein .