Improved decoupling capacitor designs and layout schemes are provided that generate high effective capacitance and high area efficiency at higher frequencies than that of previously known decoupling capacitor designs. The improved decoupling capacitor designs utilize transistor gates with shorter channel lengths to reduce the total parasitic resistance of the channel, thereby providing higher effective capacitance at higher frequencies. To enable higher area efficiency of this decoupling capacitor design, excess contacts are replaced with polysilicon in a grid or waffle pattern.