Monte-Carlo Simulations of Performance Scaling in Strained-Si nMOSFETs

The performance of strained Si nFETs is studied as a function of channel length and Ge mole fraction using fullband Monte-Carlo simulations. The performance enhancement of strained Si is found to exhibit only modest channel length dependence upon scaling to the 20-nm regime. Although higher Ge mole fraction x leads to an increasing enhancement which is sustained upon channel length scaling, it is argued that x=0.17 represents a good practical design point.