Self-aligned insulating etchstop layer on a metal contact

1. A semiconductor device comprising:

a semiconductor substrate;

a metal gate structure on the semiconductor substrate, wherein the metal gate structure has a top surface and substantially vertical sidewalls;

non-conductive spacer layers adjacent to the substantially vertical sidewalls of the metal gate structure, said non-conductive spacer layer having a height substantially equal to a height of the top of the metal gate structure;

a non-conductive metal oxide layer in direct contact with the top surface of the metal gate structure but not in contact with the non-conductive spacer layers;

an oxide layer over the non-conductive metal oxide layer and the substrate;

a channel region of the semiconductor substrate, wherein the channel region is underneath the metal gate structure;

a source/drain region of the semiconductor substrate, wherein the source/drain region is adjacent to the channel region; and

a metal source/drain contact extending from the surface of the oxide layer to the source/drain region and contacting the non-conductive metal oxide layer.

2. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the oxide layer comprises:

a first oxide layer planar with the top surface of the metal gate structure; and

a second oxide layer over the first oxide layer and the non-conductive metal oxide layer.

3. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the non-conductive metal oxide layer comprises at least one of HfO2, ZrO2, HfSiO, ZrSiO or a combination thereof.

4. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the non-conductive spacer layers comprise SiN.

5. The semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the metal gate structure comprises:

a high k dielectric layer; and

a metal contact.

6. The semiconductor device of claim 5 , wherein the metal contact comprises:

a metal seed layer; and

a fill metal.