Simulation of thermo-mechanical effect in bulk-silicon FinFETs

The thermo-mechanical effect in bulk-silicon FinFETs of the 14 nm CMOS technology node is studied by means of numerical simulation. The electrical performance of such devices is significantly enhanced by the intentional introduction of mechanical stress during the device processing. The thermo-mechanical effect modifies the mechanical stress distribution in active regions of the transistors when they are heated. This can lead to a modification of the electrical performance. Numerical simulations of this work quantify the thermo-mechanical effect for FinFET devices. Although a significant modification of the mechanical stress is induced by the thermo-mechanical effect, only a modest degradation of the electrical performance is caused.