Analysis of Cu-Graphene Interconnects

Due to its ultrathin feature, graphene has been recently proposed as diffusion barrier layer for Cu wires. This paper is geared toward developing an equivalent single-conductor (ESC) transmission-line (TL) model for analysis of Cu-graphene interconnects, i.e., Cu wires encapsulated with graphene barriers. Based on the ESC TL model, electrical performances of Cu-graphene interconnects are examined and evaluated. It is shown that the time delay and temperature rise can be reduced by replacing the conventional diffusion barriers in the Cu/low-k interconnect with the graphene barriers.