Performance enhancement for strained HfO2 nMOSFET with contact etch stop layer (CESL) under pulsed-IV measurement

High-performance CESL strained nMOSFET with HfO2 gate dielectrics has been successfully demonstrated in this work. It is found that, the transconductance (g(m)) and driving current (I-on) of the nMOSFETs increase 70% and 90%, respectively, of the increase of devices with a 300 nm capping nitride layer. A superior HfO2/Si interface for CESL-devices is observed, demonstrated by an obvious interface state density reduction (6.56x10(11) to 9.85x10(10) cm(-2)). Further, a roughly 50% and 60% increase of g(m) and I-on, respectively, can be achieved for the 300 nm SiN-capped HfO2 nMOSFET without considering charge trapping under pulsed-IV measurement.