Fabrication of vertical field effect transistor structure with strained channels

A method of forming a vertical finFET with a strained channel, comprising:

• forming a plurality of vertical fins on a substrate;
• forming a sacrificial stressor layer adjacent to the vertical fins, wherein the sacrificial stressor layer is in contact with the sidewalls of the adjacent vertical fins, and imparts a compressive strain to the adjacent vertical fins, wherein the compressive strain induced in the adjacent vertical fins is in the range of about 0.4 GPa to about 2 GPa;
• forming a plurality of fin trenches through the plurality of vertical fins and the sacrificial stressor layer, where the fin trench separates the vertical fins into columns of fin segments and a plurality of sacrificial stressor layer blocks adjacent to two fin segments;
• forming an anchor wall in each fin trench adjacent to and in contact with one or more fin segment endwalls;
• and
• removing the plurality of the sacrificial stressor layer blocks, wherein the anchor wall maintains the strain of the adjacent fin segments after removal of the sacrificial stressor layer blocks adjacent to the fin segment with the adjacent anchor wall.

A method of forming a vertical fin field effect transistor (vertical finFET) with a strained channel, comprising:

• forming one or more vertical fins on a substrate;
• forming a sacrificial stressor layer adjacent to the one or more vertical fins, wherein the sacrificial stressor layer imparts a vertical compressive or tensile strain in the adjacent vertical fins;
• forming a fin trench through one or more vertical fins and the sacrificial stressor layer to form a plurality of fin segments and a plurality of sacrificial stressor layer blocks;
• forming an anchor wall adjacent to and in contact with one or more fin segment endwalls;
• and
• removing at least one of the plurality of the sacrificial stressor layer blocks, wherein the anchor wall maintains the strain of the adjacent fin segments after removal of the sacrificial stressor layer blocks adjacent to the fin segment with the adjacent anchor wall.