Patent ID: 7994014

Claim:
A method of fabricating a semiconductor device, the method comprising: providing a substrate having a layer of semiconductor material; creating a gate structure overlying the layer of semiconductor material; forming recesses in the layer of semiconductor material adjacent to the gate structure; and at least partially filling the recesses with a filler semiconductor material, to form facet-shaped semiconductor regions in the recesses; wherein: at least partially filling the recesses comprises epitaxially growing the filler semiconductor material in the recesses under growth conditions that promote formation of the facet-shaped semiconductor regions; forming recesses in the layer of semiconductor material results in exposed recess surfaces that correspond to the {110} plane of the semiconductor material; epitaxially growing the filler semiconductor material is performed under growth conditions that promote a relatively high growth rate of the filler semiconductor material for its {111} planes, and a relatively low growth rate of the filler semiconductor material for its {110} plane; and the facet-shaped semiconductor regions comprise facet regions that point downward, relative to the substrate.