Strain-Engineered MOSFETs

This book brings together new developments in the area of strain-engineered MOSFETs using high-mibility substrates such as SIGe, strained-Si, germanium-on-insulator and III-V semiconductors into a single text which will cover the materials aspects, principles, and design of advanced devices, their fabrication and applications. The book presents a full TCAD methodology for strain-engineering in Si CMOS technology involving data flow from process simulation to systematic process variability simulation and generation of SPICE process compact models for manufacturing for yield optimization

Investigation of the electrical properties of Si₁-×Ge× channel pMOSFETs with high-κ dielectrics

It is now apparent that the continued performance enhancements of silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) can no longer be met by scaling alone. High-mobility channel materials such as strained Si1-xGex and Ge are now being seriously considered to maintain the performance requirements specified by the semiconductor industry. In addition, alternative gate dielectric, or high-κ dielectrics, will also be required to meet gate leakage requirements. This work investigates the properties of using strained Si1-xGex or Ge as alternative channel materials for pMOSFETs incorporating hafnium oxide (HfO2) high-κ gate dielectric. Whilst the SiGe pMOSFETs (x = 0.25) exhibited an enhancement in hole mobility (300 K) over comparable silicon control pMOSFETs with sputtered HfO2 dielectric, high Coulomb scattering and surface roughness scattering relating to the dielectric deposition process meant that the effective hole mobilities were degraded with respect to the silicon universal curve. Germanium channel pMOSFETs with halo-doping and HfO2 gate dielectric deposited by atomic layer deposition showed high hole mobilities of 230 cm2V-1s-1 and 480 cm2V-1s-1 at room temperature and 77 K, respectively. Analysis of the off-state current for the Ge pMOSFETs over a range of temperatures indicated that band-to-band tunnelling, gate-induced drain leakage and other defect-assisted leakage mechanisms could all be important. Hole carrier velocity and impact ionisation were also studied in two batches of buried channel SiGe pMOSFET with x = 0.15 and x = 0.36, respectively. SiGe channel pMOSFETs were found to exhibit reduced impact ionisation compared to silicon control devices, which has been attributed to a strain-induced reduction of the density of states in the SiGe conduction and valence bands. Analysis of the hole carrier velocity indicated that pseudomorphic SiGe offered no performance enhancements over Si below 100 nm, possibly due to higher ion implantation damage and strain relaxation of the strained SiGe channel. The results indicate that velocity overshoot effects might not provide the performance improvements at short channel lengths that was previously hoped for

Caractérisation électrique des propriétés d'interface dans les MOSFET nanométriques par des mesures de bruit basse fréquence

In this thesis, electrical properties of gate oxide/channel interface in ultra-scaled nanowire (NW) MOSFETs were experimentally investigated by carrier transport and low-frequency noise (LFN) characterizations. NW FETs, which have aggressively downscaled cross-section of the body, are strong candidates for near future CMOS node. However, the interface quality could be a critical issue due to the large surface/volume ratio, the multiple surface orientations, and additional strain technology to enhance the performance. Understanding of carrier transport and channel interface quality in NW FETs with advanced high-k/metal gate is thus particularly important. LFN provides deep insights into the interface properties of MOSFET without lower limit of required channel size. LFN measurement thus can be a powerful technique for ultra-scaled NW FETs. Also, fitting mobility (such as low-field mobility) extraction by Y-function method is an efficient method. Omega-gate NW FETs were fabricated from FD-SOI substrates, and with Hf-based high-k/metal gate (HfSiON/TiN), reducing detrimental effects by device downscaling. In addition, strain technologies to the channel were additively processed. Tensile strained-SOI substrate was used for NMOS, whereas compressive stressors were used for PMOS devices. Strained Si channel for PMOS was processed by raised SiGe S/D and CESL formations. Strained SiGe channel (SGOI) was also fabricated for further high-performance PMOS FETs. Firstly, the most common Id-Vg was characterized in single-channel NW FETs as the basic performance. Reference SOI NWs provided the excellent static control down to short channel of 17nm. Stressors dramatically enhanced on-current owing to a modification of channel energy-band structure. Then, extracted low-field mobility in NWs also showed large improvement of the performance by stressors. The mobility extraction effectively evaluated FET performance even for ultra-scaled NWs. Next, LFN investigated for various technological and architectural parameters. Carrier number fluctuations with correlated mobility fluctuations (CNF+CMF) model described 1/f noise in all our FETs down to the shortest NWs. Drain current noise behavior was basically similar in both N- and PMOS FETs regardless of technological splits. Larger 1/f noise stemming from S/D regions in PMOS FETs was perfectly interpreted by the CNF+CMF model completed with Rsd fluctuations. This observation highlighted an advantage of SGOI NW with the lowest level of S/D region noise. Geometrical variations altered the CNF component with simple impact of device scaling (reciprocal to both Wtot and Lg). No large impact of surface orientation difference between the channel (100) top and (110) side-walls in [110]-oriented NWs was observed. Scaling regularity with both Wtot and Lg, without much quantum effect, could be attributed to the use of HfSiON/TiN gate and carrier transport occurring mostly near top and side-wall surfaces even in NW geometry. Meanwhile, the CMF factor was not altered by decreasing dimensions, while the mobility strongly depends on the impact. Extracted oxide trap density was roughly steady with scaling, structure, and technological parameter impacts. Simple separation method of the contributions between channel top surface and side-walls was demonstrated in order to evaluate the difference. It revealed that oxide quality on (100) top and (110) side-walls was roughly comparable in all the [110]-devices. The density values lie in similar order as the recent reports. An excellent quality of the interface with HfSiON/TiN gate was thus sustained for all our technological and geometrical splits. Finally, our NWs fulfilled 1/f LFN requirements stated in the ITRS 2013 for future MG CMOS logic node. Consequently, we concluded that appropriate strain technologies powerfully improve both carrier transport and LFN property for future CMOS circuits consisting of NW FETs, without any large concern about the interface quality.Dans cette thèse, les propriétés électriques de transistors à nanofils de silicium liées à l'interface oxyde de grille/canal ont été étudiées par le biais de mesures de bruit basse fréquence (bruit 1/f) et de transport dans le canal. Ces transistors nanofils dont les dimensions ont été réduites jusqu'à quelques nanomètres pour la section, représentent une alternative sérieuse pour les futurs nœuds technologiques CMOS. Cependant, la qualité de l'interface oxyde de grille/canal pose question pour transistors dont l'architecture s'étend dans les 3 dimensions, en raison du fort rapport surface/volume inhérent à ces transistors, des différentes orientations cristallographiques de ces interfaces, ou encore des matériaux contraints utilisés pour améliorer les performances électriques. La compréhension des liens entre les propriétés de transport des porteurs dans le canal, qui garantissent en grande partie les performances électriques des transistors, et la qualité de l'interface avec l'oxyde de grille est fond primordiale pour optimiser les transistors nanofils. Les mesures de bruit, associées à l'étude du transport dans le canal, sont un outil puissant et adapté à ces dispositifs tridimensionnels, sans être limité par la taille ultra-réduite des transistors nanofils. Les transistors nanofils étudiés ont été fabriqués à partir de substrats minces SOI, et intègrent un empilement de grille HfSiON/TiN, qui permet de réduire les dimensions tout en conservant les mêmes propriétés électrostatiques. Pour gagner en performances, des contraintes mécaniques ont été introduites dans le canal en silicium : en tension pour les NMOS, par le biais de substrat contraint (sSOI), et en compression pour les PMOS. Un canal en compression uni-axiale peut être obtenu par l'intégration de source/drain en SiGe et/ou par l'utilisation de couches contraintes de type CESL. Des transistors à canal SiGe sur isolant en compression ont également été fabriqués et étudiés. Les caractéristiques électriques des divers transistors nanofils (courbes Id-Vg, compromis Ion-Ioff, mobilité des porteurs) démontrent l'excellent contrôle électrostatique dû à l'architecture 3D, ainsi que l'efficacité de l'ingénierie de contraintes dans les nanofils jusqu'à de faibles longueurs de grilles (~17nm). Des mesures de bruit basse fréquence ont été réalisées sur ces mêmes dispositifs et analysées en fonction des paramètres géométriques de l'architecture nanofils (largeur W, forme de la section, longueur de grille L), et des diverses variantes technologiques. Nous avons démontré que le bruit 1/f dans les transistors nanofils peut être décrit par le modèle de fluctuations du nombre de porteurs (CNF) corrélées aux fluctuations de mobilité (CMF). Le bruit associé aux régions S/D a pu également être intégré dans ce modèle en ajoutant une contribution, en particulier pour les PMOS. Alors que les différentes variantes technologiques ont peu d'effet sur le bruit 1/f, les variations de géométrie en L et W changent la composante de bruit liée aux fluctuations du nombre de porteurs (CNF) de manière inversement proportionnelle à la surface totale (~1/WL). Cette augmentation du bruit est le reflet du transport qui se produit à proximité des interfaces avec l'oxyde. Les différentes orientations des interfaces supérieures et latérales (110) ou (100) présentent la même quantité de pièges d'interface (extrait à partir des mesures de bruit 1/f, en séparant les contributions des différentes faces du nanofil) bien qu'ayant une rugosité différente essentiellement liée au process. En revanche la composante CMF n'est pas altérée par la réduction des dimensions contrairement à la mobilité des porteurs qui décroit fortement avec L. Finalement, les mesures de bruit 1/f ont été comparées aux spécifications ITRS 2013 pour les transistors multi-grilles en vue des futurs nœuds technologiques de la logique CMOS, et démontrent que nos transistors nanofils satisfont les exigences en la matière

Nanoscale characterisation of dielectrics for advanced materials and electronic devices

PhD ThesisStrained silicon (Si) and silicon-germanium (SiGe) devices have long been recognised for their enhanced mobility and higher on-state current compared with bulk-Si transistors. However, the performance and reliability of dielectrics on strained Si/strained SiGe is usually not same as for bulk-Si. Epitaxial growth of strained Si/SiGe can induce surface roughness. The typical scale of surface roughness is generally higher than bulk-Si and can exceed the device size. Surface roughness has previously been shown to impact the electrical properties of the gate dielectric. Conventional macroscopic characterisation techniques are not capable of studying localised electrical behaviour, and thus prevent an understanding of the influence of large scale surface roughness. However scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques are capable of simultaneously imaging material and electrical properties. This thesis focuses on understanding the relationship between substrate induced surface roughness and the electrical performance of the overlying dielectric in high mobility strained Si/SiGe devices. SPM techniques including conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) and scanning capacitance microscopy (SCM) have been applied to tensile strained Si and compressively strained SiGe materials and devices, suitable for enhancing electron and hole mobility, respectively. Gate leakage current, interface trap density, breakdown behaviour and dielectric thickness uniformity have been studied at the nanoscale. Data obtained by SPM has been compared with macroscopic electrical data from the same devices and found to be in good agreement. For strained Si devices exhibiting the typical crosshatch morphology, the electrical performance and reliability of the dielectric is strongly influenced by the roughness. Troughs and slopes of the crosshatch morphology lead to degraded gate leakage and trapped charge at the interface compared with peaks on the crosshatch undulations. Tensile strained Si material which does not exhibit the crosshatch undulation exhibits improved uniformity in dielectric properties. Quantitative agreement has been found for leakage at a device-level and nanoscale, when accounting for the tip area. The techniques developed can be used to study individual defects or regions on dielectrics whether grown or deposited (including high-κ) and on different substrates including strained Si on insulator (SSOI), strained Ge on insulator (SGOI), strained Ge, silicon carbide (SiC) and graphene. Strained SiGe samples with Ge content varying from 0 to 65% have also been studied. The increase in leakage and trapped charge density with increasing Ge extracted from SPM data is in good agreement with theory and macroscopic data. The techniques appear to be very sensitive, with SCM analysis detecting other dielectric related defects on a 20% Ge sample and the effects of the 65% Ge later exceeding the critical thickness (increased defects and variability in characteristics). Further applications and work to advance the use of electrical SPM techniques are also discussed. These include anti-reflective coatings, synthetic chrysotile nanotubes and sensitivity studies.Overseas Research Students Awards Scheme (ORSAS), School International Research Scholarship (SIRS), Newcastle University International Postgraduate Scholarship (NUIPS) and the Strained Si/SiGe platform grant

Development of Si/SiGe technology for microwave integrated circuits

A complete fabrication process has been developed for the realisation of Si/SiGe microwave integrated circuits (SIMICs). Using the process, a number of active and passive elements for microwave circuits have been demonstrated including 1. Metal gate p-SiGe MOSFETs . 2. Low loss transmission lines on CMOS grade silicon. 3. High quality spiral inductors on CMOS grade silicon. 4. High performance metal gate strained silicon n-MOSFETs. Single stage amplifiers have been designed based on the technology developed in this work. The MOSFETs have good DC performance. Strained SiGe p-channel MOSFETs with 1 mum gate length have an extrinsic transconductance of 36 mS/mm. Strained silicon n-channel MOSFETs with 0.3 mum gate length have extrinsic transconductance of 230 mS/mm. The RF performance of a metal gate 0.3 mum gate length strained silicon MOSFET is measured, with cut off frequency and maximum frequency of oscillation of 20 GHz and 21 GHz respectively. Coplanar waveguide transmission lines of 50 Ohm characteristic impedance, fabricated using spin on dielectrics on a CMOS grade silicon subsfrate, have losses less than 0.5 dB/mm up to 60 GHz. Spiral inductors fabricated on the low loss dielectric have Q > 15. Using the passive and active element library developed, single stage amplifiers were designed with gain of 12 dB at 3 GHz or 7.5 dB at 6 GHz. The device layer structures were designed using a simple ID Poisson solver. The p-channel device used a concentration graded SiGe channel to obtain high mobility and carrier concentration. The n-channel RF device with a strained silicon channel incorporates a metal gate technology that is'directly responsible for the high values of f achieved. The spiral inductors and coplanar waveguides are fabricated using a spin on dielectric process to separate them from the lossy silicon substrate. The same technology is used to reduce the parasitic capacitance of device contact pads. The engineering conclusion of this work is that SIMICs, for applications in the frequency range 1 to 10 GHz, can be made with the current passive and active element library at the University of Glasgow. Further improvement in both passive and active element performance to increase the frequency is set out in future work. From a practical viewpoint a process is now in place that will underpin the University of Glasgow's Si / SiGe SIMIC projects in the future

Investigation of the electrical properties of Si₁-xGex channel pMOSFETs with high-κ dielectrics

It is now apparent that the continued performance enhancements of silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) can no longer be met by scaling alone. High-mobility channel materials such as strained Si1-xGex and Ge are now being seriously considered to maintain the performance requirements specified by the semiconductor industry. In addition, alternative gate dielectric, or high-? dielectrics, will also be required to meet gate leakage requirements. This work investigates the properties of using strained Si1-xGex or Ge as alternative channel materials for pMOSFETs incorporating hafnium oxide (HfO2) high-? gate dielectric. Whilst the SiGe pMOSFETs (x = 0.25) exhibited an enhancement in hole mobility (300 K) over comparable silicon control pMOSFETs with sputtered HfO2 dielectric, high Coulomb scattering and surface roughness scattering relating to the dielectric deposition process meant that the effective hole mobilities were degraded with respect to the silicon universal curve. Germanium channel pMOSFETs with halo-doping and HfO2 gate dielectric deposited by atomic layer deposition showed high hole mobilities of 230 cm2V-1s-1 and 480 cm2V-1s-1 at room temperature and 77 K, respectively. Analysis of the off-state current for the Ge pMOSFETs over a range of temperatures indicated that band-to-band tunnelling, gate-induced drain leakage and other defect-assisted leakage mechanisms could all be important. Hole carrier velocity and impact ionisation were also studied in two batches of buried channel SiGe pMOSFET with x = 0.15 and x = 0.36, respectively. SiGe channel pMOSFETs were found to exhibit reduced impact ionisation compared to silicon control devices, which has been attributed to a strain-induced reduction of the density of states in the SiGe conduction and valence bands. Analysis of the hole carrier velocity indicated that pseudomorphic SiGe offered no performance enhancements over Si below 100 nm, possibly due to higher ion implantation damage and strain relaxation of the strained SiGe channel. The results indicate that velocity overshoot effects might not provide the performance improvements at short channel lengths that was previously hoped for.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2007, nr 2

kwartalni

Electrical characterization and modeling of low dimensional nanostructure FET

At the beginning of this thesis, basic and advanced device fabrication process which I haveexperienced during study such as top-down and bottom-up approach for the nanoscale devicefabrication technique have been described. Especially, lithography technology has beenfocused because it is base of the modern device fabrication. For the advanced device structure,etching technique has been investigated in detail.The characterization of FET has been introduced. For the practical consideration in theadvanced FET, several parameter extraction techniques have been introduced such as Yfunction,split C-V etc.FinFET is one of promising alternatives against conventional planar devices. Problem ofFinFET is surface roughness. During the fabrication, the etching process induces surfaceroughness on the sidewall surfaces. Surface roughness of channel decreases the effectivemobility by surface roughness scattering. With the low temperature measurement andmobility analysis, drain current through sidewall and top surface was separated. From theseparated currents, effective mobilities were extracted in each temperature conditions. Astemperature lowering, mobility behaviors from the transport on each surface have differenttemperature dependence. Especially, in n-type FinFET, the sidewall mobility has strongerdegradation in high gate electric field compare to top surface. Quantification of surfaceroughness was also compared between sidewall and top surface. Low temperaturemeasurement is nondestructive characterization method. Therefore this study can be a propersurface roughness measurement technique for the performance optimization of FinFET.As another quasi-1 D nanowire structure device, 3D stacked SiGe nanowire has beenintroduced. Important of strain engineering has been known for the effective mobility booster.The limitation of dopant diffusion by strain has been shown. Without strain, SiGe nanowireFET showed huge short channel effect. Subthreshold current was bigger than strained SiGechannel. Temperature dependent mobility behavior in short channel unstrained device wascompletely different from the other cases. Impurity scattering was dominant in short channelunstrained SiGe nanowire FET. Thus, it could be concluded that the strain engineering is notnecessary only for the mobility booster but also short channel effect immunity.Junctionless FET is very recently developed device compare to the others. Like as JFET,junctionless FET has volume conduction. Thus, it is less affected by interface states.Junctionless FET also has good short channel effect immunity because off-state ofjunctionless FET is dominated pinch-off of channel depletion. For this, junctionless FETshould have thin body thickness. Therefore, multi gate nanowire structure is proper to makejunctionless FET.Because of the surface area to volume ratio, quasi-1D nanowire structure is good for thesensor application. Nanowire structure has been investigated as a sensor. Using numericalsimulation, generation-recombination noise property was considered in nanowire sensor.Even though the surface area to volume ration is enhanced in the nanowire channel, devicehas sensing limitation by noise. The generation-recombination noise depended on the channelgeometry. As a design tool of nanowire sensor, noise simulation should be carried out toescape from the noise limitation in advance.The basic principles of device simulation have been discussed. Finite difference method andMonte Carlo simulation technique have been introduced for the comprehension of devicesimulation. Practical device simulation data have been shown for examples such as FinFET,strongly disordered 1D channel, OLED and E-paper.At the beginning of this thesis, basic and advanced device fabrication process which I haveexperienced during study such as top-down and bottom-up approach for the nanoscale devicefabrication technique have been described. Especially, lithography technology has beenfocused because it is base of the modern device fabrication. For the advanced device structure,etching technique has been investigated in detail.The characterization of FET has been introduced. For the practical consideration in theadvanced FET, several parameter extraction techniques have been introduced such as Yfunction,split C-V etc.FinFET is one of promising alternatives against conventional planar devices. Problem ofFinFET is surface roughness. During the fabrication, the etching process induces surfaceroughness on the sidewall surfaces. Surface roughness of channel decreases the effectivemobility by surface roughness scattering. With the low temperature measurement andmobility analysis, drain current through sidewall and top surface was separated. From theseparated currents, effective mobilities were extracted in each temperature conditions. Astemperature lowering, mobility behaviors from the transport on each surface have differenttemperature dependence. Especially, in n-type FinFET, the sidewall mobility has strongerdegradation in high gate electric field compare to top surface. Quantification of surfaceroughness was also compared between sidewall and top surface. Low temperaturemeasurement is nondestructive characterization method. Therefore this study can be a propersurface roughness measurement technique for the performance optimization of FinFET.As another quasi-1 D nanowire structure device, 3D stacked SiGe nanowire has beenintroduced. Important of strain engineering has been known for the effective mobility booster.The limitation of dopant diffusion by strain has been shown. Without strain, SiGe nanowireFET showed huge short channel effect. Subthreshold current was bigger than strained SiGechannel. Temperature dependent mobility behavior in short channel unstrained device wascompletely different from the other cases. Impurity scattering was dominant in short channelunstrained SiGe nanowire FET. Thus, it could be concluded that the strain engineering is notnecessary only for the mobility booster but also short channel effect immunity.Junctionless FET is very recently developed device compare to the others. Like as JFET,junctionless FET has volume conduction. Thus, it is less affected by interface states.Junctionless FET also has good short channel effect immunity because off-state ofjunctionless FET is dominated pinch-off of channel depletion. For this, junctionless FETshould have thin body thickness. Therefore, multi gate nanowire structure is proper to makejunctionless FET.Because of the surface area to volume ratio, quasi-1D nanowire structure is good for thesensor application. Nanowire structure has been investigated as a sensor. Using numericalsimulation, generation-recombination noise property was considered in nanowire sensor.Even though the surface area to volume ration is enhanced in the nanowire channel, devicehas sensing limitation by noise. The generation-recombination noise depended on the channelgeometry. As a design tool of nanowire sensor, noise simulation should be carried out toescape from the noise limitation in advance.The basic principles of device simulation have been discussed. Finite difference method andMonte Carlo simulation technique have been introduced for the comprehension of devicesimulation. Practical device simulation data have been shown for examples such as FinFET,strongly disordered 1D channel, OLED and E-paper.SAVOIE-SCD - Bib.électronique (730659901) / SudocGRENOBLE1/INP-Bib.électronique (384210012) / SudocGRENOBLE2/3-Bib.électronique (384219901) / SudocSudocFranceF

Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2001, nr 1

kwartalni

Numerical simulation of sub-100 nm strained Si/SiGe MOSFETs for RF and CMOS applications

Drift-Diffusion, Hydrodynamic and Monte Carlo simulations have been used in this work to simulate strained Si/SiGe devices for RF and CMOS applications. For numerical simulations of Si/SiGe devices, strain effects on the band structure of Si have been analyzed and analytical expressions are presented for parameters related to the bandgap and band alignment of Si/SiGe heterostructure. Optimization of n-type buried strained Si channel Si/SiGe MODFETs has been carried out in order to achieve high RF performance and high linearity. The impact of both lateral and vertical device geometries and different doping strategies has been investigated. The impact of the Ge content of the SiGe buffer on the performance of p-type surface channel strained Si/SiGe MOSFETs has been studied. Hydrodynamic device simulations have been used to assess the device performance of p-type strained Si/SiGe MOSFETs down to 35 nm gate lengths. Well-tempered strained Si MOSFETs with halo implants around the source/drain regions have been simulated and compared with those devices possessing only a single retrograde channel doping. The calibrations in respect of sub-100 nm Si and strained Si MOSFETs fabricated by IBM lead to a scaling study of those devices at 65 nm, 45 nm and 35 nm gate lengths. Using Drift-Diffusion simulations, ring oscillator circuit behaviour has been evaluated. Strained Si on insulator (SSOI) circuits have also been simulated and compared with strained Si circuits, Si circuits employing conventional surface channel MOSFETs along with SOI devices. Ensemble Monte Carlo simulations have been used to evaluate the device performance of n-type strained Si MOSFETs. A non-perturbative interface roughness scattering model has been used and validated by calibrating with respect to experimental mobility behaviour and device characteristics. The impact of interface roughness on the performance enhancement of strained Si MOSFETs has been investigated and evidence for reduced interface roughness scattering is presented, i.e., a smoother interface is suggested in strained Si MOSFETs. A 35 nm gate length Toshiba Si MOSFET has been simulated and the performance enhancement of 35 nm strained Si MOSFETs over the Toshiba Si device is predicted. Monte Carlo simulations are also employed to investigate the performance degradation due to soft-optical phonon scattering, which arises with the introduction of high-K gate dielectrics. Based on the device structures of the calibrated sub-100 nm n-type conventional and strained Si IBM MOSFETs, significant current degradation has been observed in devices with high-K gate dielectrics, HfO2 and Al2O3