Patent ID: 9530843
Filing Date: 2016-12-27
CPC Classification: H01L

Claim Text:
1. A method of forming a finFET comprising: providing at least one fin structure having a first width, wherein the at least one fin structure is composed of a first semiconductor material; forming a replacement gate structure straddling a channel portion of the at least one fin structure; forming source and drain regions on exposed sidewalls of the at least one fin structure on opposite sides of the replacement gate structure; removing the replacement gate structure, thus exposing the channel portion of the at least one fin structure; etching the channel portion of the at least one fin structure, wherein the etching is performed after the removing of the replacement gate structure, and wherein the etched channel portion has a second width that is less than the first width; depositing an epitaxially grown semiconductor layer of a second semiconductor material that is different from the first material on the etched channel portion of at least one fin structure, in which a lattice dimension of the epitaxially grown semiconductor layer is different than a lattice dimension of the channel portion of the at least one fin structure, thus providing a strained channel; and forming a functional gate structure on the strained channel.