Drive current and hot carrier reliability improvements of high-aspect-ratio n-channel fin-shaped field effect transistor with high-tensile contact etching stop layer

Abstract

A high-aspect-ratio 3D multi-gate n-channel fin-shaped field effect transistor (FinFET) has been integrated with a stressor of a highly tensile nitride film as the initial inter layer dielectric capping layer upon a (110)-orientated silicon-on-insulator wafer. Drastically enhanced electrical performances, such as 190% enhancement of peak channel mobility, 91% of peak transconductance, and 34% of saturation current, etc., are achieved for an NMOS FinFET with a gate length of 90 nm. The Ioff-Ion universal curve also demonstrates an extraordinary drive current gain of 26%. Moreover, the hot carrier injection lifetime can be increased from 7.78 × 102 to 5.26 × 103 year (yr) due to the incorporation of this high-tensile contact etching stop layer and relaxation of the Si crystalline channel layer.

Mechanics of silicon nitride thin-film stressors on a transistor-like geometry

“…Another widely adopted concept is based in the deposition of a stressed film, typically Silicon Nitride (SiN) (also referred to as capping etch stopping layers (CESL)), over the transistor structure. [13][14][15][16][17] In this case, the strain in the channel results from mechanical interactions which depend on the geometry of the system and characteristics of the films. In contrast to Si x Ge 1-x and Si x C 1-x , for which the elastic behavior is well understood, our knowledge is limited on how amorphous SiN thin films behave in terms of developing stresses and mechanical properties, 18 particularly when featured over nanoscopic geometries of an intricate nature.…”

Impact of Near-Stoichiometric Silicon Nitride Gate Insulator on the Performance of MOCVD-Grown ZnO Thin-Film Transistors

“…It has been reported that intrinsic stress in the deposited SiN films affects the performance of silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor fieldeffect transistors, 60,61 a-Si TFTs, 31 and InGaZnO TFTs. 62,63 Similarly, stress in the deposited SiN gate dielectrics may influence ZnO TFT characteristics.…”

A Hot-Carrier Damaged Indicator of MOSFETs by the Low Frequency Noise Measurement Technique

“…As the channel length of MOSFETs less than 1um, the hot-carrier damage becomes a serious reliability problem [1]. It reveals the degradation of device characteristics, life time and reliability of the device, so it is necessary to study and avoid the hot-carrier harmfulness of a MOSFET semiconductor device.…”