Analysis of Multilayer Graphene Nanoribbon Interconnects Constrained by Structural Edge Roughness and Corrugated Surface Dielectric

Abstract

The transient response, 3 dB bandwidth, and relative stability of undoped‐ and doped‐multilayer graphene nanoribbon (MLGNR) interconnects are investigated based on the mean free path (MFP) model incorporating scatterings induced by structural roughness of edges and corrugation of dielectric surface (viz., SiC, BN, and SiO2). The impact of scattering phenomenon on undoped‐MLGNRs (viz., horizontal top‐contact (HTC) and vertical top‐contact) and doped HTC‐MLGNR is analyzed, and the obtained results are compared with smooth and rough copper (Cu) interconnects at the 13 nm technology node. An ABCD parameter model for transmission lines considering the decoupling technique is employed to analyze three capacitively coupled interconnect lines. The results show that, while Cu interconnects outperform MLGNR variants in terms of step response and 3 dB bandwidth, MLGNR interconnects are more stable than Cu counterparts. Moreover, Li‐doped HTC‐MLGNR interconnects with edge roughness on SiO2 leads to slow and sluggish step response, particularly demonstrating a 1250.4% increase in rise time (tr) and 92.56% decrease in 3 dB bandwidth compared to smooth Cu. However, Li‐doped HTC‐MLGNR without edge roughness on SiC exhibits a 94.7% improvement in tr compared to smooth Cu. Hence, patterning GNRs with smooth edges and less degree of dielectric corrugation is necessary for MLGNR on SiO2 to outperform Cu counterparts.