Enhancing p-channel InGaSb QW-FETs via Process-Induced Compressive Uniaxial Strain

We study the effect of process-induced uniaxial stress on the performance of biaxially strained InGaSb p-channel quantum-well field-effect transistors (QW-FETs). Uniaxial stress is incorporated using a self-aligned nitride stressor. Compared with unstressed control devices, fabricated stressed devices with a gate length of Lg=0.30 μm showed an increase of more than 40% in the drain current at VGS-VT=-0.5 V and VDS= -2.0\) V, an enhancement of more than 40% in the peak extrinsic transconductance at VDS= -2.0\) V, and a reduction in the source and drain resistance of 25%. These figures suggest an enhancement of the intrinsic transconductance by as much as 60%. The improvement in device characteristics was also found to scale favorably with gate length. The results indicate that process-induced compressive uniaxial strain holds great promise for developing high-performance antimonide-based p-FETs.