Modeling and evaluating carbon nanotube bundles for future VLSI interconnect applications

Single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) bundles have the potential to provide an attractive solution for the resistivity and electromigration problems faced by copper interconnect as process technology scales. In this paper, we develop a scalable equivalent circuit model that captures the statistical distribution of metallic nanotubes, which can impact interconnect reliability, while accurately incorporating recent experimental and theoretical results. Leveraging the circuit model, we examine the performance and reliability of nanotube bundles for both individual signal lines and system-level designs. The results indicate that SWCNT interconnect bundles can provide significant improvement in delay over traditional copper interconnect depending on bundle geometry and process technology. ©2006 IEEE.