Key parameters driving transistor degradation in advanced strained SiGe channels

This paper proposes new physical explanations to explain altogether the impact of compressive strain, germanium content (in channel) and nitrogen content (in gate stack). Both compressive strain and Ge content impact on NBTI degradation is found to related to the modifications in the band structure in the channel. Excellent agreement between theory and experimental results shed new light on the NBTI degradation mechanism and the physics lying behind. Similarly, HCI degradation process dependences is well explained by the energy-driven model.