ABSTRACT
During the last 40 years, Si-based complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology has
emerged as the most predominant technology for the microelectronics industry. The success of the
technology has largely been due to technological innovations that enabled continuous scaling of device
dimensions, which have resulted in improvements in both device performance and packing density.
However, this trend cannot continue indefinitely and we are approaching the fundamental limits of Si
technology. To overcome the fundamental limits of Si, still maintaining compatibility with the conven-
tional Si processing, several new materials such as strained-SiGe, strained-Si, and silicon-germanium-
carbon (SiGeC) are currently being considered. Acceptance of a new material in CMOS technology
requires a detailed understanding of the consequences, if incorporated.
