Techniques are disclosed for forming transistor architectures having extended recessed spacer and source/drain (S/D) regions. In some embodiments, a recess can be formed, for example, in the top of a fin of a fin-based field-effect transistor (finFET), such that the recess allows for forming extended recessed spacers and S/D regions in the finFET that are adjacent to the gate stack. In some instances, this configuration provides a higher resistance path in the top of the fin, which can reduce gate-induced drain leakage (GIDL) in the finFET. In some embodiments, precise tuning of the onset of GIDL can be provided. Some embodiments may provide a reduction in junction leakage (Lb) and a simultaneous increase in threshold voltage (VT). The disclosed techniques can be implemented with planar and non-planar fin-based architectures and can be used in standard metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) and complementary MOS (CMOS) process flows, in some embodiments.