RPI Simulations Show Nanotubes Outperform Copper Interconnects
Staff -- Semiconductor International, 3/17/2008 10:03:00 AM
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI, Troy, N.Y.) have predicted that interconnects made of bundles of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) will outperform copper-based nanowires, beginning with wires <60 nm in length.
Using supercomputers at RPI's Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations, the researchers studied the quantum mechanical properties of copper at nanoscale dimensions, concluding that heat and resistance problems may limit copper scaling beyond the 45 nm node.
The RPI study by Saroj Nayak, an associate professor of physics, RPI graduate student Yu Zhou, and postdoctoral research assistant Subbalakshmi Sreekala, was based on simulations. The work delved into the quantum mechanical characteristics of copper at nanoscale dimensions, where copper’s increased resistivity caused by surface scattering becomes severe. CNTs enjoy a relatively large current-carrying capacity, but resistivity can also become a problem.
“If you go to the nanoscale, objects do not behave as they do at the macroscale,” Nayak said. “Looking forward, it is essential that we solve problems with quantum mechanics to obtain the most complete, reliable data possible.”
The supercomputer center was put to work for months to compare copper with CNTs, taking quantum mechanical effects at the nanoscale as the point of emphasis. Nayak said the conclusion is that “carbon nanotubes at 45 nm will outperform copper nanowire.”
The paper acknowledges the materials and processing challenges in using CNTs as interconnects. A Stanford University team recently created gigahertz-speed CNT interconnects. However, the complex production method used by the Stanford researchers required depositing pairs of gold electrodes, creating an electric field across the two electrodes, and depositing drops of solution containing the CNTs. The electric field caused some of the tubes to bridge the electrodes, creating an interconnect that could be measured within a ring oscillator.
Nayak said the industry needs to model the effects of imperfections in CNTs on the electrical resistance, contact resistance and capacitance.
The research results appeared in the March issue of the Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter.
Talkback
Related Content
Related Content
SPONSORED LINKS
SI Resource Center
Browse Resources by Type:
- Contamination considerations for perfluoroelastomer seals used in deposition processes
Dupont Performance Elastomers | White Paper
VIEW NOW
View More
