CMOS circuit performance enhancement by surface orientation optimization

With the advent of novel device structures that can be easily fabricated outside of the traditional (100) plane, it may be advantageous to change the crystal orientation to optimize CMOS circuit performance. The use of alternative surface orientations such as [110] and (111) enhances hole mobility w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on electron devices 2004-10, Vol.51 (10), p.1621-1627
Main Authors: Chang, L., Leong, M., Yang, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Charge carrier mobility
Circuit optimization
Circuit properties
Circuits
CMOS
CMOS integrated circuits
Degradation
Design. Technologies. Operation analysis. Testing
Devices
Digital circuits
Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits
Electronic circuits
Electronics
Exact sciences and technology
Gates (circuits)
Integrated circuit reliability
Integrated circuits
Optimization
Orientation
Performance enhancement
Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices
Transistors
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Summary:With the advent of novel device structures that can be easily fabricated outside of the traditional (100) plane, it may be advantageous to change the crystal orientation to optimize CMOS circuit performance. The use of alternative surface orientations such as [110] and (111) enhances hole mobility while degrading electron mobility, thus allowing for adjustment of the ratio between nMOS and pMOS transistor drive currents. By optimizing the surface orientation, up to a 15% improvement in gate delay can be expected. This value depends upon the type of logic gate, the off-state leakage specification, and technology scaling trends. The introduction of high-/spl kappa/ dielectrics may provide an added incentive for the use of non-(100) orientations as this method of circuit performance enhancement may be used to compensate for mobility degradation from the high-/spl kappa/ interface. Additional concerns including layout area and device reliability are discussed.
ISSN:0018-9383
1557-9646
DOI:10.1109/TED.2004.834912