Graphene Replaced with Copper

Graphene replaced with copper Graphene nanoribbons have a current-carrying capacity two orders of magnitude higher than copper Recent research into the properties of graphene nanoribbons provides two new reasons for using the material for interconnects in future computer chips. In widths as narrow as 16 nm, graphene has a current-carrying capacity approximately a thousand times greater than copper while providing improved thermal conductivity. The current-carrying and heat-transfer measurements were reported by a team of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA). The same team had previously reported measurements of resistivity in graphene that suggest the material’s conductance would outperform that of copper in future generations of nanometer-scale interconnects. The graphene nanoribbons have a current-carrying capacity two orders of magnitude higher than copper at these size scales, according to Raghunath Murali, a senior research engineer at Georgia Tech. {draw:frame} Composed of thin layers of graphite, graphene has been studied by the Georgia Tech team as a potential replacement for copper in on-chip interconnects wires. The graphene nanoribbons have a current-carrying capacity of more than 108 A/cm2, which makes them very robust in resisting electromigration and should greatly improve chip reliability. This electromigration phenomenon causes transport of material, especially at high-current density and leads to a break in the wire and, consequently, chip failure. The research team also discovered that the graphene nanoribbons also have excellent thermal conductivity properties and can conduct heat away from devices. They found that graphene nanoribbons have a thermal conductivity of more than 1,000 W/m Kelvin for structures less than 20 nm wide. This will help the interconnects serve as heat spreaders in future generations of integrated circuits, according to Murali. They used electron beam lithography to construct