Germanium-tin (GeSn) p-channel MOSFETs fabricated on (100) and (111) surface orientations with Sub-400 °cSi2H6 passivation

Abstract

In this letter, we report the first study of the dependence of carrier mobility and drive current IDsat of Ge0.958Sn 0.042 p-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (pMOSFETs) on surface orientations. Compressively strained Ge 0.958Sn0.042 channels were grown on (100) and (111) Ge substrates. Sub-400 °CSi2H6 treatment was introduced for the passivation of the GeSn surface prior to gate stack formation. Source/drain series resistance and subthreshold swing S were found to be independent of surface orientation. The smallest reported S of 130 mV/decade for GeSn pMOSFETs is achieved. The (111)-oriented device demonstrates 13% higher IDsat over the (100)-oriented one at a VGS-VTH of-0.6 V and VDS of-0.9 V. We also found that GeSn pMOSFETs with (111) surface orientation show 18% higher hole mobility than GeSn pMOSFETs with (100) orientation. © 1980-2012 IEEE.