Strained silicon technology

Abstract

Following a brief review of strained silicon technology options, this paper presents results and analysis of strained Si n-channel MOSFETs fabricated on thin SiGe virtual substrates. Significant improvements in electrical performance are demonstrated compared with Si control devices. The impact of SiGe device self-heating is compared for strained Si MOSFETs fabricated on thin and thick virtual substrates. The work demonstrates that by using high quality thin virtual substrates the compromised performance enhancements commonly observed in short gate length MOSFETs and high bias conditions due to self-heating in conventional thick virtual substrate devices are eradicated