Electrothermal modelling and characterisation of submicron through-silicon carbon nanotube bundle vias for three-dimensional ICs

Abstract

A submicron through-silicon carbon nanotube bundle via (TS-CNTBV) is characterised based on its equivalent circuit model. As the throughsilicon vias (TSV) dimensions are scaled down to the nanoscale, it is proved that the single-walled carbon nanotube bundle can provide a better performance and reliability than the conventional metals, whereas the multiwalled carbon nanotube becomes unsuitable for the TSV applications. Both the metal-oxide-semiconductor and the temperature effects are considered and treated appropriately in the modelling of the TS-CNTBV. The process requirement and the energy delay product of the through-silicon-single-walled carbon nanotube bundle via are investigated, and the equivalent thermal conductivity of the silicon substrate with the TS-CNTBVs is obtained and analysed finally. © 2014 The Institution of Engineering and Technology.