Mechanical strain effect of n-channel polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors

The current change of n-channel polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors is analyzed experimentally and theoretically under different strain conditions. Under the uniaxial strain parallel to the channel, the +6.7% and +5.3% drain current enhancements are achieved in linear and saturation regions, respectively. There are -4.4% (linear) and -4.6% (saturation) drain current degradations when the uniaxial strain is applied perpendicular to the channel. The polycrystalline silicon is mainly composed of (111)-oriented grains, measured by electron diffraction pattern. Phonon-limited mobility is theoretically calculated. There is a qualitative agreement between experiments and theoretical analysis. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.