Analysis of the Performance of n-Type FinFETs With Strained SiGe Channel

This paper reports a simulation study investigating the drive current of a prototypical SiGe n-type FinFET built on a relaxed SiGe substrate for different values of the Ge content
x
in the Si
_(1-
x
)Ge
x
active layer. To this purpose, we performed strain simulations, band-structure calculations, and multisubband Monte Carlo transport simulations accounting for the effects of the Ge content on both the band-structure and the scattering rates in the transistor channel. Our results suggest that the largest on-current may be obtained with a simple Si active layer, because of the beneficial strain induced by the SiGe substrate. A SiGe channel instead is less performing because of strain relaxation and alloy scattering.