US Patent 7902541 - Strained nanowire FET

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7902541.html

Strained silicon is used in transistor design to improve mobility and switching speed. This patent from IBM includes some basic claims to strained nanowires used in transistor channels. Claim 1 reads:

1. A semiconductor structure comprising:

a semiconductor nanowire adjoined to a first semiconductor pad and a second semiconductor pad, wherein a middle portion of said semiconductor nanowire is longitudinally strained;

a gate dielectric surrounding said longitudinally strained middle portion of said semiconductor nanowire;

a dielectric material layer embedding said first and second semiconductor pads, wherein said dielectric material layer is substantially stress-free;

at least one source-side contact via embedded in said dielectric material layer and contacting said first semiconductor pad; and

at least one drain-side contact via embedded in said dielectric material layer and contacting said second semiconductor pad.