A metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor (MOS) and method of fabricating the same, in which the effective channel length is increased relative to the width of the gate electrode. A dummy gate electrode overlying dummy gate dielectric material is formed at the surface of the structure, with self-aligned source/drain regions, and dielectric spacers on the sidewalls of the dummy gate structure. The dummy gate dielectric underlies the sidewall spacers. Following removal of the dummy gate electrode and the underlying dummy gate dielectric material, including from under the spacers, a silicon etch is performed to form a recess in the underlying substrate. This etch is self-limiting on the undercut sides, due to the crystal orientation, relative to the etch of the bottom of the recess. The gate dielectric and gate electrode material are then deposited into the remaining void, for example to form a high-k metal gate MOS transistor.