Novel Approach for Improved Signal Integrity and Power Dissipation Using MLGNR Interconnects

Abstract

In order to reduce the crosstalk-induced delay along with the impact of peak noise on the victim line, this paper introduces a passive shielding methodology accurately using multilayer graphene nanoribbon (MLGNR) based equivalent single conductor (ESC) model at 32 nm technology. To mitigate interconnect issues, the aforementioned model is used for different interconnect spacing using coupled driver-interconnect-load (DIL) arrangement. In the proposed work, the passive shielding is used innovatively to reduce the crosstalk-induced delay and the impact of peak noise on the victim line, while maintaining the minimum interconnect pitch. For better understanding, the shielded and unshielded approaches are presented to show the significant improvement and compared with copper (Cu) interconnect at global length. In regard to shield approach, it is observed that the shielded interconnect lines are outperformed in terms of peak noise on the victim line and crosstalk-induced delay as compared to unshielded interconnect lines. At 32 nm technology, the impact of crosstalk-induced delay and peak voltage of shielded MLGNR are improved by 94.58% and 90.23%, respectively, as compared to shielded Cu line for 5 nm spacing at 1000 µm interconnect length. Additionally, the power consumption is also investigated for shielded and unshielded interconnect, wherein 51.70% improved performance has been observed for shielded MLGNR over shielded Cu interconnect at global length. Therefore, the MLGNR with passive shielding can be treated as the most appropriate model in order to improve the signal integrity as compared to Cu for future on-chip interconnects.