Patent ID: 7808058

Claim:
A microelectronic device comprising: a transistor gate; a first spacer and a second spacer respectively adjacent a first side and a second side of the gate; a diffusion layer supra-adjacent the gate; contact regions super-adjacent the diffusion layer and adjacent the first spacer and the second spacer; a protective cap super-adjacent the gate and between the contact regions, the protective cap being adapted to protect the device from shorts between the gate and the contact regions; and a first ILD layer encompassing the gate, the first spacer and the second spacer, and wherein the protective cap is formed by: providing a sacrificial cap onto the gate; providing a second ILD layer encompassing the sacrificial cap super-adjacent the first ILD layer; defining a protective cap recess by removing the sacrificial cap from the second ILD layer; forming a protective cap body by providing a protective material in the protective cap recess; and removing portions of the second ILD layer to provide the protective cap.