Modeling and Fast Simulation of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Interconnects

In this paper, several important aspects associated with the modeling and fast simulation of global multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) interconnects are studied in detail. The MWCNTs are characterized by both the multiconductor circuit (MCC) model and the simplified equivalent single conductor (ESC) model. With two different circuit models, the impacts of intershell tunneling conductance and imperfect contact resistance on electrical performance of both single and coupled MWCNT interconnects are investigated. Based on the ESC model, an efficient algorithm combining modal decoupling and delay extraction techniques is presented for fast transient simulation of MWCNT interconnects. The numerical results illustrate that different locations of imperfect contact resistance may exert apparent effects on transient response of MWCNT interconnects. Nevertheless, these effects can be reduced by intershell tunneling conductance in the MCC model. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are also demonstrated by the numerical examples.