Process-Induced Delay Variation in SWCNT, MWCNT, and Mixed CNT Interconnects

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper deals with an analysis of propagation delay in carbon nanotube (CNT) bundled interconnects under process-induced variations. An accurate and compact analytical model of mixed CNT bundle (MCB) is employed that takes into account the random distribution of CNTs having different diameters. Depending on the bundle configurations, a multi-conductor transmission line (MTL) model is presented for MCB, bundled SWCNT, and bundled MWCNT interconnects. The performance of CNT bundles is investigated under process-induced variations of temperature, metallic ratio, contact resistance, and bundle area. A driver-interconnect-load (DIL) system is used to perform the Monte Carlo simulations to analyze the impact of process-induced variations on propagation delay. It is observed that the MCB is more tolerant to the process variations for global interconnect lengths with respect to the bundled SWCNT and bundled MWCNT.