A FinFET device and method for fabricating a FinFET device is disclosed. An exemplary FinFET device includes a substrate of a crystalline semiconductor material having a top surface of a first crystal plane orientation; a fin structure of the crystalline semiconductor material overlying the substrate; a gate structure over a portion of the fin structure; an epitaxy layer over another portion of the fin structure, the epitaxy layer having a surface having a second crystal plane orientation, wherein the epitaxy layer and underlying fin structure include a source and drain region, the source region being separated from the drain region by the gate structure; and a channel defined in the fin structure from the source region to the drain region, and aligned in a direction parallel to both the surface of the epitaxy layer and the top surface of the substrate.