Advanced transistors (FinFET and GAA)

What is the main purpose of applying strain (stress) to a transistor's channel?

  1. ATo make the threshold voltage 0 V
  2. BTo increase carrier mobility and drive current
  3. CTo reduce gate capacitance
Show answer and explanation

Answer: B. To increase carrier mobility and drive current

Straining the silicon crystal changes its band structure and increases carrier mobility. Generally, tensile strain helps nMOS and compressive strain helps pMOS; a well-known method for pMOS embeds SiGe in the source and drain to compress the channel.

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More Advanced transistors (FinFET and GAA) questions

  1. Which correctly describes EOT (equivalent oxide thickness)?
  2. Which correctly describes the SOI (silicon on insulator) structure?
  3. Which correctly describes DIBL (drain-induced barrier lowering)?
  4. How is the effective channel width of a FinFET adjusted?
  5. Which correctly describes the CFET (complementary FET), researched as the structure to follow GAA?