Strained Si n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors formed on very thin SiGe relaxed layer fabricated by ion implantation technique

Strained Si n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) were fabricated on the Si0.83Ge0.17 relaxed thin layer formed by ion implantation technique. Although the SiGe thickness was as small as 100 nm, the relaxation was highly enhanced thanks to the pre-ion-implantation into the Si substrate and the strained Si channel with very smooth surface was obtained. A nMOSFET was fabricated in this structure and 100% drive current improvement and 60% mobility enhancement over the control Si MOSFET were achieved. This indicates that the ion implantation technique is very promising for realization of relaxed-SiGe-based devices with very high performances. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.