We developed a process design that uses epitaxial growth of strained-Si layers after shallow trench isolation (STI) and well implantation to improve the drive current of n-type metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (nMOSFETs). Due to the significantly reduced thermal budget, we can minimize the degree of partial relaxation in strained-Si layers based on state-of-theart MOSFET integration technique. Experimental results show that strained-Si devices fabricated by this flow exhibit enhanced saturated drive currents, up to 12% higher than that of strained-Si device with epitaxial growth of strained- Si layers before STI and well implantation. (c) 2007 The Electrochemical Society.