Patent ID: 8906754

Claim:
A method of forming a device comprised of a gate structure and a spacer structure positioned in a layer of insulating material, the method comprising: performing at least one etching process to recess said gate structure and said spacer structure and thereby form a recessed gate structure and a recessed spacer structure, said recessed gate structure, said recessed spacer structure and said layer of insulating material defining a spacer/gate cap recess; forming a first gate cap protection layer above said layer of insulating material and in said spacer/gate cap recess; forming a gate cap layer in said spacer/gate cap recess above said first gate cap protection layer, wherein an upper surface of said gate cap layer is positioned below an upper surface of said layer of insulating material; forming a second gate cap protection layer on said upper surface of said gate cap layer and above at least said layer of insulating material; and performing at least one process operation to remove portions of said first and second gate cap protection layers from above said layer of insulating material while leaving a portion of said second gate cap protection layer positioned on said upper surface of said gate cap layer.