Lithium-Intercalated Graphene Interconnects: Prospects for On-Chip Applications

Abstract

This paper establishes the importance of the lithium (Li) intercalation in multilayer graphene nanoribbon (MLGNR) interconnects for obtaining superior performance than conventional copper (Cu) on-chip interconnects. For the first time, we report performance analysis of Li-intercalated MLGNRs for local interconnect applications. In that, interconnect thickness is optimized for obtaining lowest delay and energy-delay-product (EDP). At 12 $\mu \text{m}$ interconnect length, our optimized Li-intercalated MLGNRs exhibit $(\approx 22.9~{\mathrm{ ps}})1.9\times $ and $4.1 \times $ lower delay and EDP, respectively, when compared to Cu. Even in presence of edge roughness, they exhibit $(\approx 31.8~{\mathrm{ ps}})1.37\times $ and $2.5\times $ lower delay and EDP, respectively, when compared to Cu. Our analysis quantitatively proves the potential of Li-intercalated MLGNRs for local interconnect applications.