Silicide induced pattern density and orientation dependent transconductance in MOS transistors

For the first time, the influence of the mechanical stress in the transistor channel, induced by the silicide on the source(S)/drain(D) areas, on the transconductance of a MOS transistor has been studied. When scaling down the S/D dimensions, the transconductance can change up to 20% as a result of the increasing stress. This effect is channel orientation dependent. In order to keep the transconductance variation as low as possible, the formation of a low stress silicide is essential.