Method and IC design with non-linear power rails

A semiconductor structure, comprising:

• first and second active regions extending lengthwise along a first direction over a substrate;
• an isolation feature over the substrate and separating the first and second active regions;
• gate structures extending over channel regions of the first and the second active regions, the gate structures extending lengthwise along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction;
• first source/drain (S/D) features over first S/D regions of the first and second active regions;
• second S/D features over second S/D regions of the first and second active regions;
• first and second S/D contacts directly landing on the first and second S/D features, respectively;
• and
• a conductive via feature continuously extending over and across one or more of the gate structures,
• wherein the conductive via feature directly contacts multiple first S/D contacts without contacting any of the second S/D contacts,
• wherein the conductive via feature include first portions that extend along the first direction and second portions that extend along the second direction.

A semiconductor structure, comprising:

• first and second active regions extending lengthwise along a first direction over a substrate;
• an isolation feature over the substrate and separating the first and second active regions;
• gate structures extending over channel regions of the first and the second active regions, the gate structures extending lengthwise along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction;
• first source/drain (S/D) features over first S/D regions of the first and second active regions;
• second S/D features over second S/D regions of the first and second active regions;
• first and second S/D contacts directly landing on the first and second S/D features, respectively;
• and
• a conductive via feature continuously extending across multiple first S/D contacts to electrically connect the multiple first S/D contacts together, wherein the conductive via electrically connects first S/D features of the first active region to first S/D features of the second active region, and wherein the conductive via feature is electrically isolated from the second S/D contacts.