Patent ID: 8188550

Claim:
An integrated circuit (IC) comprising: a substrate having at least a first gate stack with first and second gate sidewalls and a first diffusion region adjacent to the first gate sidewall, a second gate stack with first and second gate sidewalls and first and second diffusion regions adjacent to the first and second gate sidewalls of the second gate stack, wherein the second diffusion region of the second gate stack and the first diffusion region of the first gate stack is a common diffusion region of the first and second gate stack; and an electrical strap, wherein the electrical strap is formed after removal of spacers from the first and second gate sidewalls of the first gate stack to form exposed first and second gate sidewalls of the first gate stack and is over and contacts the common diffusion region and exposed first and second sidewalls and top of the first gate stack, the electrical strap being arranged to provide a continuous electrical flowpath between the common diffusion region and a first gate electrode of the first gate stack.