N-Channel (110)-Sidewall Strained FinFETs With Silicon–Carbon Source and Drain Stressors and Tensile Capping Layer

Abstract

The performance of n-channel (110)-sidewall trigate fin-shaped field-effect transistors (FinFETs) is seriously compromised as (110) surfaces have significantly lower electron mobility than (100) surfaces. Straining the channel in (110)-sidewall FinFETs using lattice-mismatched silicon-carbon (Si <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1-y</sub> C <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">y</sub> ) stressors alone was experimentally determined to be far less effective than doing the same with (100)-sidewall FinFETs. By additionally incorporating a tensile silicon nitride contact etch-stop layer, the increase in longitudinal tensile stress and the introduction of vertical compressive stress result in significant further I <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Dsat</sub> enhancement, highlighting the importance of the vertical compressive stress component for enhancing (110)-sidewall FinFET performance.