Aggressively scaled strained-silicon-on-insulator undoped-body High-κ/Metal-Gate nFinFETs for high-performance logic applications

Abstract

Strained-silicon-on-insulator (SSOI) undoped-body high-κ /metal-gate n-channel fin-shaped field-effect transistors (nFinFETs) at scaled gate lengths and pitches (i.e., LGATE ∼25 nm and a contacted gate pitch of 130 nm) were fabricated using a gate-first flow. A long and narrow fin layout (i.e., fin length ∼1 μm) was leveraged to preserve uniaxial tensile strain in the transistors. These devices exhibit drive currents suitable for high-performance logic technology. The change in the slope of RON - LGATE (dRON/dLGATE), transconductance G MSAT, and injection velocity (vinj) measurements indicate a ∼15% mobility-induced ION enhancement with SSOI relative to SOI nFinFETs at ultrashort gate lengths. Raman measurements conducted on SSOI substrates after fin formation demonstrate the preservation of ∼1.3-GPa uniaxial tensile strain even after 1100 °C annealing. © 2011 IEEE.