TLP evaluation of ESD protection capability of graphene micro-ribbons for ICs

Transmission line pulse (TLP) measurements were carried out to study electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection capability of monolayer and bilayer graphene micro-ribbons (GR) as IC interconnects. For 100 ns pulse duration (t_d) and 10 ns pulse rise time (t_r), the second breakdown TLP test current density limit reaches around 3.34 × 10⁸ A/cm² for monolayer GRs and 2.27 × 10⁸ A/cm² for bilayer GRs, which are both superior to that of Cu wires, commonly used as interconnects for CMOS ICs. This study of large number of sample splits provide design guidelines for on-chip ESD protection circuits using graphene interconnects for future ICs.