Transport in Carbon Nanostructures

Heat generation in one-dimensional structures such as carbon nanotubes and carbon nanofibers (CNF) has raised concerns regarding reliability in these structures under high-current conditions. This paper reports initial efforts to model the effect of heat generation on the I-V characteristics of CNFs. Experimental studies of carbon nanostructures to date have primarily focused on electrical properties. For on-chip interconnect applications in integrated circuits, both electrical and thermal properties must be considered when evaluating the reliability of carbon-based devices under high-current stress. While modeling studies of thermal effects on electrical characteristics have been reported, correlation between these two properties has not been investigated in detail. Annealing effects due to joule heating are observed at the contact interface in our study, resulting in a significant contact resistance reduction. Electrothermal modeling of carbon nanofiber-metal contact systems is presented, with specific focus on heat generation at the CNF-metal interface.