Carbon incorporation in strained-Si surface channel NMOSFET is investigated. Due to the similar to 52% lattice mismatch between silicon and carbon, the channel is expected to have higher strain than strained-Si, indicating that the carrier mobility can be enhanced significantly. There is a similar to 40% electron mobility enhancement for incorporated carbon content of 0.25% in strained-Si NMOSFETs compared to unstrained Si channels. The performance of channels with increased strain is not as high as theoretical predictions. This is due to the large D-it at the oxide/strained-Si:C interface and alloy scattering, which degrades carrier mobility enhancement. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.