Efficient 2D approximation for Layout-dependent Relaxation of Etch Stop Liner Stress due to Contact Holes

Stress engineering to enhance device performance has become widespread. One way is to apply an etch stop liner with intrinsic stress, which causes stress and thus changed mobility in the channel of the device. Etching contact holes reduces this stress. Investigating the dependence of the channel stress on the position of the contact holes is a genuine 3D problem. Here we describe a method to determine the width-averaged channel stress by a much more efficient 2D simulation