ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the incorporation of strain into Silicon metal—oxide—semiconductor (Si MOS) devices. It considers the effects of quantum mechanical effects (QMEs) on the strained Si threshold voltage. The chapter includes a brief introduction to the strained Si technology as well as the QMEs on the threshold voltage of tensile strained Si Metaloxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs), considering the impact of channel, germanium content, and strained thin film thickness. Strained Si MOSFET is a device architecture that takes advantage of strain-induced enhancement of carrier transport in Si. The strain modifies the band structure, provides lower effective masses, and suppresses the intervalley scattering, consequently resulting in the enhancement of carrier mobility and drive current. The hole mobility enhancement is also considered to be due to various scattering processes, especially the alloy scattering. The increase of the energy splitting reduces the intervalley scattering and increases the electron mobility.
