Virtual Fabrication Meets Stress Physics: Solving GAA Channel Non-Uniformity

Gate-all-around (GAA) nanosheet transistors are revolutionizing sub-5-nm CMOS chips, but a subtle design challenge has come into focus: the mechanical stress created in the nanosheet channels does not distribute uniformly across stacked GAA transistors. Because stress reshapes the silicon band structure and directly changes carrier mobility, 1 even small imbalances between the stacked nanosheets can distort device behavior in ways that are difficult to predict from geometry alone. What causes st