Spacer for a gate electrode having tensile stress and a method of forming the same

摘要

By reducing a deposition rate and maintaining a low bias power in a plasma atmosphere, a spacer layer, for example a silicon nitride layer, may be deposited that exhibits tensile stress. The amount of tensile stress is controllable within a wide range, thereby providing the potential for forming sidewall spacer elements that modify the charge carrier mobility and thus the conductivity of the channel region of a field effect transistor.