Transient electro-thermal analysis of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) with transmission line model

Transient analysis of electro-thermal coupling of metallic single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) interconnect is performed in this paper using a transmission line model. The SWCNT interconnect is excited by an electro-static discharge (ESD) current pulse. Based on the Luttinger model, the transmission-line equation and heat conduction equation of long SWCNT interconnect are solved iteratively by means of the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The transient thermal response is evaluated and compared with previous known results. In addition, the impacts of the diameter of SWCNT and the amplitude of ESD pulse on the thermal transient response are also investigated. The results indicate that in order to predict the accurate electro-thermal coupling of SWCNT for the use of future long CNT-based interconnects, special attention should be paid to the transmission line effects.