Investigation on the combined effects of variable Fermi energies and temperatures on the performance of multilayer graphene nanoribbon as interconnects

Abstract

In the present research, the Fermi energy and temperature-dependent performance of a multilayer graphene nanoribbon (MLGNR) in terms of signal delay and power delay product (PDP) at the global interconnect length for three different technology nodes (32 nm, 22 nm, and 16 nm) were investigated in detail. A Fermi energy and temperature-dependent equivalent single conductor (ESC) based on the analytical model of MLGNR was proposed to evaluate the parasitic parameters, which capture the variations in Fermi energy and electron–phonon scattering as a function of temperature. It was found that the intercalation doping significantly raised the Fermi energy of each layer of MLGNR and consequently, increased its overall conductivity for all three technology nodes. The simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis (SPICE) tool was employed to simulate the parasitic parameters of MLGNR, and results revealed that signal delay and PDP of MLGNR increased with the increasing temperatures (200–500 K); however, gradually decreased with the rise in Fermi energy at 2000 μm length for all three technology nodes. Further, the performances of MLGNR, single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT), and copper interconnects were compared in the SPICE simulator, and it was noticed that the intercalation doping of MLGNR yielded a much better performance (as compared to SWCNT and copper interconnects) in terms of signal delay and PDP for all three technology nodes.