Impact of process-induced uniaxial strain on the temperature dependence of carrier mobility in nanoscale pMOSFETs

This letter provides an experimental assessment of temperature dependence of mobility for advanced short-channel strained devices. By accurate split C-V mobility extraction under various temperatures, we examine the impact of process-induced uniaxial strain on the temperature dependence of mobility and mobility enhancement in nanoscale pMOSFETs. Our study indicates that the strain sensitivity of hole mobility becomes less with increasing temperature, and it is consistent with previous mechanical-bending result. Furthermore, the carrier-scattering mechanism for the pMOSFET under uniaxial compressive strain tends to be more phonon limited at a given vertical electric field, which explains the larger drain current sensitivity to temperature present in the compressively strained PFET.