Strain measured in a silicon-on-insulator, complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor device channel induced by embedded silicon-carbon source/drain regions

The strain imparted to 60 nm wide, silicon-on-insulator (SOI) channel regions by heteroepitaxially deposited, embedded silicon-carbon (e-SiC) features was measured using x-ray microbeam diffraction, representing one of the first direct measurements of the lattice parameter conducted in situ in an SOI device channel. Comparisons of closed-form, analytical modeling to the measured, depth-averaged strain distributions show close correspondence for the e-SiC features but 95% of the predicted strain in the SOI channel. Mechanical constraint due to the overlying gate and the contribution of SOI underneath the e-SiC in the diffracting volume to the measurements can explain this difference.