Web Release Date: February 13,
A 1 GHz Integrated Circuit with Carbon Nanotube Interconnects and Silicon Transistors
and
Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94025, Advanced LSI Technology Laboratory, Toshiba Corporation, Kawasaki, Japan, and Toshiba America Research, San Jose, California
Received November 27, 2007
Revised December 20, 2007
Abstract:
Due to their excellent electrical properties, metallic carbon nanotubes are promising materials for interconnect wires in future integrated circuits. Simulations have shown that the use of metallic carbon nanotube interconnects could yield more energy efficient and faster integrated circuits. The next step is to build an experimental prototype integrated circuit using carbon nanotube interconnects operating at high speed. Here, we report the fabrication of the first stand-alone integrated circuit combining silicon transistors and individual carbon nanotube interconnect wires on the same chip operating above 1 GHz. In addition to setting a milestone by operating above 1 GHz, this prototype is also a tool to investigate carbon nanotubes on a silicon-based platform at high frequencies, paving the way for future multi-GHz nanoelectronics.
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