Standoff structures that can be used on the die backside of semiconductor devices and methods for making the same are described. The devices contain a silicon substrate with an integrated circuit on the front side of the substrate and a backmetal layer on the backside of the substrate. Standoff structures made of Cu of Ni are formed on the backmetal layer and are embedded in a Sn-containing layer that covers the backmetal layer and the standoff structures. The standoff structures can be isolated from each other so that they are not connected and can also be configured to substantially mirror indentations in the leadframe that is attached to the Sn-containing layer. Other embodiments are described.