A general transmission line model for conventional metallic nanowires and innovative carbon nano-interconnects

A general transmission line model is presented, able to describe a large class of nano-interconnects, made either by conventional metallic nanowires or by innovative carbon materials (carbon nanotubes or graphene nanoribbons). A common frame is presented here, which allows describing the electrodynamics of such nano-structures by means of a modified Boltzmann transport equation. This model leads to a non-local dispersive Ohm´s law, which is then coupled to Maxwell equations, to obtain the transmission line model. The quantum effects arising in nano-interconnects are included in the per-unit-length parameters of the transmission line model, so allowing the embedding of nano-interconnects into standard circuit simulators. The propagation properties of interconnects made by nanowires, carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoribbons are studied and a performance comparison is given, referring to the typical arrangements foreseen for the technology nodes of some nanometers.