Abstract: The present invention comprises an innovative gate oxidation process after the disposition of the gate and prior to the disposition of the source and the drain by exposing the gate to oxygen at a predetermined temperature and for a predetermined time period for the optimized transistor performance. During the innovative gate oxidation process, oxygen penetrates into the interfaces of the gate conductive layer gate oxide and the gate dielectric layer silicon substrate and oxidizes portions of the gate conductive layer at the interfaces due to the oxygen smiling or the bird beak effect, which results in an increased effective thickness of the gate dielectric layer. Optionally, HCl can be introduced at a predetermined flowrate during the innovative gate oxidation process.