Superior reliability and reduced Time-Dependent variability in high-mobility SiGe channel pMOSFETs for VLSI logic applications

With a significantly reduced Negative Bias Temperature Instability, SiGe channel pMOSFETs promise to virtually eliminate this reliability issue for ultra-thin EOT devices. The intrinsically superior NBTI robustness is understood in terms of a favorable energy decoupling between the SiGe channel and the gate dielectric defects. Thanks to this effect, a significantly reduced time-dependent variability of nanoscaled devices is also observed. Other reliability mechanisms, such as Channel Hot Carriers, Time-Dependent Dielectric Breakdown and Low-Frequency noise are demonstrated not to be showstoppers. Finally the performance improvement promised by the SiGe technology is discussed from the perspective of VLSI logic circuits.