On the enhanced impact ionization in uniaxial strained p-MOSFETs

Abstract

This letter reports a new mechanism for the enhanced impact-ionization rate (I-sub/I-d) present in short-channel uniaxial strained p-MOSFETs. Through the pinch-off voltage (V-dsat), we have assessed the impact of strain on the maximum channel electric field. Due to the strain-enhanced mobility, V-dsat becomes lower, resulting in the observed V-g-dependent enhancement in I-sub/I-d. This mechanism needs to be considered when one-to-one comparisons of the hot-carrier effect between strained and unstrained devices are made.