Method of forming a semiconductor device

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising:

• forming a conductive gate overlying a semiconductor substrate at a transistor location;
• forming a sidewall spacer structure abutting the conductive gate, wherein a material forming an outer surface of the sidewall spacer structure contains nitrogen;
• hardening the outer surface of the offset spacer;
• forming an epitaxial layer after hardening the outer surface, wherein a location of the sidewall spacer structure is defined by the outer surface of the sidewall spacer structure;
• and
• implanting a dopant to facilitate forming a source/drain region of the gate structure subsequent to hardening the outer surface.

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method comprising:

• forming a sidewall spacer structure adjacent to a sidewall of a conductive gate structure overlying a semiconductor substrate at a transistor location, wherein forming the first sidewall structure comprises forming a first sidewall spacer and forming a second sidewall spacer containing nitrogen, wherein the first sidewall spacer is between the second sidewall spacer and the conductive gate structure;
• forming an epitaxial layer at a source/drain location defined by an outer surface of the sidewall spacer structure;
• annealing the sidewall spacer structure before forming the epitaxial layer;
• and
• implanting a first dopant after forming the first sidewall spacer to facilitate formation of an extension region associated with the transfer location.