Comparison between metallic carbon nanotube and copper future VLSI nano-interconnects

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of scaling interconnects to nanometric dimensions in future VLSI applications. Traditional copper interconnects are compared to innovative ones made by bundles of metallic carbon nanotubes. A new model is presented to describe propagation along CNT bundles, in the framework of the classical transmission line theory. A possible future scaled CNT bundle microstrip is analyzed and compared to a conventional microstrip.