Fabrication of ultra-thin strained silicon on insulator

A bond and etch back technique for the fabrication of 13-nm-thick, strained Si directly on insulator has been developed. The use of a double etch stop allows the transfer of a thin strained Si layer with across-wafer thickness uniformity comparable to the as-grown epitaxial layers. Surface roughness of less than 1 nm was achieved. Raman analysis confirms strain remains in the thin Si layers after the removal of the SiGe that induced the strain. Ultra-thin strained Si-on-insulator (SSOI) substrates are promising for the fabrication of ultra-thin body and double-gate, strained Si MOSFETs. 10 refs.