Effect of tensile uniaxial stress on the electron transport properties of deeply scaled FD-SOI n-type MOSFETs

In this letter, the effect of longitudinal uniaxial mechanical stress on electron mobility in high-performance fully depleted ultrathin silicon-on-insulator nFETs with a raised source/drain (RSD) architecture and channel lengths ranging from 1μ (long channel) to 30 nm (deeply scaled) is reported. Longitudinal uniaxial stress in the channel was achieved using a stressed nitride contact liner technique. A dR/dL method was used to minimize errors in the mobility extraction due to uncertainties in external resistance and channel length. Significant mobility enhancement of 1.6-1.8 times was achieved despite the use of an RSD and strong channel doping of roughly 5 × 1018 cm-3, required for short-channel effect control. © 2006 IEEE.