Germanium for advanced CMOS anno 2009: a SWOT analysis

Germanium has emerged as an exciting alternative material for high-performance scaled CMOS, however not without difficulties. After a review of the state-of-the-art, mainly focusing on two techniques to passivate the channel/dielectric interface, we analyze the strengths (carrier mobility, band gap), and weaknesses (n-type doping, lattice mismatch and BTBT leakage) of Ge for MOSFETs. We also identify some opportunities and the most important threats for the future of germanium.