Modeling of carbon nanotube (CNT) interconnects

Metallic carbon nanotube (CNT) interconnect has been regarded as a competitive candidate for next generation of interconnect. The equivalent circuit models of CNTs are investigated in this paper. Based on these models, the performance of CNT interconnects is predicted in comparison with Cu wire counterpart. Further, crosstalk effects in single-and double-walled CNT (SWCNT & DWCNT) bundle interconnect architectures are examined. It is found that compared with SWCNT bundle, the DWCNT one can lead to a reduction of crosstalk-induced time delay. Finally, electrothermal characterization of a metallic SWCNT interconnect array is performed, with self-heating effect treated carefully.