A semiconductor device including, in cross section, a semiconductor substrate; a gate insulating film on the semiconductor substrate; a gate electrode on the gate insulating film, the gate electrode including a metal, a side wall insulating film at opposite sides of the gate electrode, the side wall insulating film contacting the substrate; a stress applying film at the opposite sides of the gate electrode and over at least a portion of the semiconductor substrate, at least portion of the side wall insulating film being between the gate insulating film and the stress applying film and in contact with both of them; source/drain regions in the semiconductor substrate at the opposite sides of the gate electrode, and silicide regions at surfaces of the source/drain regions at the opposite sides of the gate electrode, the silicide regions being between the source/drain regions and the stress applying layer and in contact with the stress applying layer.