A process for forming a substantially planarized nanoporous dielectric silica coating on a substrate suitable for preparing a semiconductor device, and semiconductor devices produced by the methods of the invention. The head of the pipette is fixed to a head supporting block. Also, the parts of the cam mechanism have a large surface area of contact when the valve is in the open position, to minimize unit loading of the cam surfaces. An end of the resilient element is fixed into the handle. The cathode is then formed on the electrolyte by depositing a cathode thin film cap using known film deposition techniques.