Analyzing mixed carbon nanotube bundles: A current density study

Carbon nanotube (CNT) bundle is a promising candidate for future on-chip interconnects and electro-thermal applications due to its superior electrical and thermal properties. A realistic CNT bundle is a mixture of single-wall/multi-wall CNTs due to the nature of bottom-up fabrication process. In order to utilize CNT bundle, its current density performance needs to be analyzed considering both types of CNTs. In this paper, compact current density models are introduced for CNTs and mixed CNT bundles considering the influence of diameter and other structural factors. The current density performance estimation based on these models match the recent measurement results. Considering realistic CNT densities and geometries, the mixed bundle shows various levels of improvement over the copper wire counterpart in terms of current density.