Strained Silicon Nanowire p-Channel FETs With Diamond-Like Carbon Liner Stressor

We report the first integration of a high-compressive-stress diamond-like carbon (DLC) liner stressor with gate-all-around Si nanowire p-channel field-effect transistor (FET). DLC liner stressors with thicknesses of ~ 20 and ~ 40 nm were formed on p-FETs to induce high compressive strain in the channel region. As compared with nanowire p-FETs without liner stressor, substantial enhancements in I_ON and saturation transconductance G_MSat were observed on p-FETs with DLC liner stressors. A thicker DLC liner stressor leads to a larger performance enhancement.