Patent ID: 7241674

Claim:
A method of forming a silicided gate on a substrate having active regions, comprising the steps of: forming suicide in the active regions and a portion of the gate, leaving a remaining portion of the gate unsilicided; forming a shielding layer over the active regions and gate after said silicide forming step; forming a coating layer over portions of the shielding layer over the active regions; opening said shielding layer to expose said gate, wherein said coating layer protects said portions of said shielding layer over said active regions during said opening step; depositing a metal layer over the exposed gate; and annealing to cause the metal to react with the gate to silicidize at least a part of the remaining portion of the gate, wherein said coating layer comprises a polymer, and wherein the step of forming said coating layer comprises the step of depositing said polymer to a thickness less than the height of said gate, wherein said shielding layer is exposed over a top surface of said gate.