electrode structure 220 and the fins 205 210 the placeholder material 225 and the gate cap layer 230 are shown in phantom the relative thicknesses of the gate cap layer 230 and the spacer layer 240 may vary depending on the particular embodiment fig2 c illustrates the finfet device 200 after forming a mask 245 e g photoresist above the fins 205 i e the n type device is masked fig2 d illustrates the finfet device 200 after performing an anisotropic spacer etch process to form a sidewall spacer 250 on the placeholder material 225 the spacer etch process also recesses the insulating layer 235 and reduces the thickness of the cap layer 230 the spacer etch process is terminated prior to completely removing the spacer material 240 on the sidewalls of the fin 210 thereby leaving fin spacers 255 that partially cover the sidewalls of the fin 210 fig2 e illustrates the finfet device 200 after performing a selective etch process to recess the fin 210 fig2 f illustrates the finfet device 200 after removing the mask 245 and performing an epitaxial growth process to form epi material 260 on the exposed tip portions of the fin 210 the fin spacers 255 constrain the lateral growth of the epi material 260 limiting its lateral extension in the direction toward the other fins 205 in some embodiments a dopant e g a p type dopant may be introduced into the epi material 260 while it is being formed in some embodiments a non doping ion e g ge sn having a covalent radius greater than silicon may also be introduced into the epi material 260 to induce compressive strain on a channel region.