Aspects of the disclosure provide a method for forming a fin field effect transistor (FinFET) incorporating a fin top hardmask on top of a channel region of a fin. Because of the presence of the fin top hardmask, a gate height of the FinFET can be reduced without affecting proper operations of vertical gate channels on sidewalls of the fin. Consequently, parasitic capacitance between a gate stack and source/drain contacts of the FinFET can be reduced by lowering the gate height of the FinFET.