Abstract: The invention relates to integrated circuits in which each component is formed in an active layer, supported by an island, called mesa, of the substrate.With a view to forming a dielectric layer on the surface of the substrate and on the sides of the mesas, the components are protected by means of a metal layer, then the mesas are hollowed out with slight underetching under the metal layer. The dielectric is deposited on the whole of the surface of the circuit, by cathode spraying, which allows the part of the metal layer to be spared in its underetched periphery. Chemical attack, from the underetching, eliminates the metal layer and the dielectric which it supports.