Staircase landing pads via rivets

An apparatus, comprising:

• a stack of materials comprising a plurality of word lines, the plurality of word lines comprising a first word line and one or more second word lines;
• a rivet that couples the first word line of the plurality of word lines with a conductive pillar;
• the conductive pillar that couples the first word line with supporting circuitry, wherein a first thickness of the first thickness of the first word line adjacent to the conductive pillar is greater than a second thickness of the one or more second word lines adjacent to the conductive pillar;
• and
• a first oxide material isolating the conductive pillar from the one or more second word lines.

An apparatus formed by a process comprising:

• forming a stack comprising a set of levels, each level of the set of levels comprising a nitride layer and an oxide layer;
• depositing a nitride material on the stack to contact at least a portion of the nitride layer of one or more levels of the set of levels;
• removing a portion of the stack to form a cavity comprising a first sidewall and a second sidewall;
• removing, based at least in part on forming the cavity, a portion of the nitride material and a portion of the nitride layer of each level of the set of levels to form a set of voids, wherein a first void of the set of voids is formed at a first level based at least in part on removing the portion of the nitride material and the portion of the nitride layer of the first level that is in contact with the portion of the nitride material, and wherein a second void of the set of voids is formed at a second level based at least in part on removing the portion of the nitride layer of the second level;
• conformally depositing, based at least in part on removing the portion of the nitride material and the portion of the nitride layer of each level, an oxide material on the first sidewall and the second sidewall of the cavity, the oxide material filling a portion of the first void to form a third void that is smaller than the first void and filling the second void;
• and
• forming a rivet that couples a first word line with a conductive pillar based at least in part on conformally depositing the oxide layer, wherein the first word line is associated with the first level that comprises the nitride material in contact with the portion of the nitride layer.