Patent ID: 7960243

Claim:
A method of forming a semiconductor device, comprising: forming an isolation within a semiconductor layer to define an active region; forming a first gate stack over the semiconductor layer comprising a first conductive layer and a second layer over the first conductive layer, wherein: the first layer is more conductive and provides more stopping power to an implant than the second layer; and the first gate stack overlies a portion and not all of the active region; forming an implant block over portions of the active region that are adjacent to and not covered by the first gate stack, wherein the implant block does not overlie portions of the first gate stack; implanting a species into the second layer, wherein implanting is performed after forming the first gate stack and forming the implant block; removing the implant block; forming source/drain regions in the semiconductor layer on opposing sides of the first gate stack; and heating the first gate stack after the step of implanting to cause the first gate stack to exert stress in the semiconductor layer in a region under the first gate stack.