Prevention of ILD loss in exchange gate technologies by surface treatment

In the production of more complex metal gate electrode structures with large e on the basis of a replacement gate method, a marked loss of the interlayer dielectric material may be prevented by at least one surface modification process is introduced for example in the form of a nitriding process. In this way, leakage current paths, which are caused by metal residues in the dielectric interlayer material are significantly reduced.