Method to obtain fully silicided poly gate

A method of fabricating an integrated circuit, comprising:

• forming transistors that comprise silicided gate electrodes over a microelectronics substrate, comprising;
• forming a capping layer comprising oxide over gate structures located over a microelectronics substrate, the gate structures including sidewall spacers and having a doped region located therebetween;
• placing a protective layer comprising nitrogen over the capping layer and the doped region;
• removing a portion of the protective layer and capping layer located over the gate structures to expose a top surface of the gate structures, a remaining portion of the protective layer and capping layer remaining over the doped region, wherein removing the protective layer comprises removing the protective layer with a first etch to expose the capping layer and removing the capping layer comprises removing the capping layer with a second etch;
• and
• performing a silicide process to form silicided gate electrodes, wherein the remaining portion of the protective layer and the capping layer over the doped region blocks formation of a silicide in the doped region;
• and
• forming dielectric layers over the silicided gate electrodes;
• and
• forming interconnects in the dielectric layers to electrically connect the transistors to form an operative integrated circuit.

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device, comprising:

• forming a capping layer over the semiconductor device, the semiconductor device including a gate structure and moat regions position adjacent to the gate structure;
• placing a protective layer over the capping layer;
• depositing a dielectric layer over the protective layer;
• removing a portion of the dielectric layer to expose the protective layer located over the gate structure, a remaining portion of the dielectric layer remaining over the moat regions;
• removing a portion of the protective layer and capping layer located over the gate structure to expose a top surface of the gate structure, a remaining portion of the protective layer and capping layer remaining over the moat regions;
• and
• performing a silicide process to form a silicided gate electrode.