US Patent 10367078 Semiconductor devices and FinFET devices having shielding layers

Semiconductor devices, FinFET devices and methods of forming the same are disclosed. One of the semiconductor devices includes a substrate and a gate structure over the substrate. The gate structure includes a high-k layer over the substrate, a shielding layer over the high-k layer, and an N-type work function metal layer over the shielding layer. In some embodiments, the shielding layer has a dielectric constant less than a dielectric constant of the high-k layer.