Gate to drain capacitance in a lateral DMOS and vertical DMOS field effect transistor is minimized by providing a conductive shield plate under the gate and between the gate and the drain of the transistor. In operation, the shield plate is preferably connected to a DC voltage potential and coupled to AC ground for RF power applications. The shield plate is readily fabricated in a conventional polysilicon gate process by adding one additional polysilicon deposition (or other suitable material), one additional mask, and one additional etch step. The shield plate can include a raised portion which provides lateral capacitive isolation between the gate and the drain. Alternatively, a shield contact can be provided above the shield plate and between the gate and drain to provide lateral isolation.