Electrical and Thermal Analysis of Cu-CNT Composite TSV and GNR Interconnects

Modeling 3D IC structures with through-silicon vias (TSVs) is a promising technique to achieve "more than Moore" integration. Carbon nanomaterials are an emerging solution due to its properties like high thermal conductivity and better ampacity. In this paper, Carbon nanotube (CNT) and copper composite as TSV and Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) as interconnects are considered to improve the performance of 3D ICs. A comparison of the electro-thermal behavior of copper, CNT and copper-CNT composite is shown in this work. The electrical resistance is less than CNT by 57.3% and 72.9% in case of copper-CNT composite and copper respectively. The CNT/GNR interface and copper-CNT/GNR interface offers 80.5% and 64.2% lower interface resistance than its copper counterpart. The thermal conductivity obtained by copper-CNT composite is better than copper because self-heating effects are eliminated to a large extent. The Cu-CNT composite provides a better electrical conductivity than CNT and better thermal conductivity than copper thus providing a tradeoff between the two alternative TSV configurations.