Crosstalk bandwidth and stability analysis in graphene nanoribbon interconnects Amin Bagheri a,⇑ , Mahboubeh Ranjbar b , Saeed Haji-Nasiri b,⇑ , Sattar Mirzakuchaki c a Department of Electrical Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran b Department of Electrical, Biomedical and Mechatronics Engineering, Qazvin Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin 3419915195, Iran c Electronic Research Center, School of Electrical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 16846-13114, Tehran, Iran article info Article history: Received 20 December 2014 Received in revised form 18 March 2015 Accepted 11 May 2015 Available online xxxx Keywords: Multilayer graphene nanoribbon (MLGNR) Interconnects Transmission line model (TLM) Nichols chart Crosstalk abstract Based on transmission line modeling (TLM), and using the Nichols chart, we present a bandwidth and sta- bility analysis, together with step time responses, for coupled multilayer graphene nanoribbon (MLGNR) interconnects that is inquired for the first time. In this analysis, the dependence of the degree of crosstalk relative stability for coupled MLGNR interconnects comprising of both capacitive and mutual-inductive couplings between adjacent MLGNR has been acquired. The obtained results show that with increasing the length or decreasing the width of the MLGNRs, the stability in near-end output increases. While, any increase in the length or width of MLGNRs, decrease the stability of far-end output. Also, by increas- ing capacitive coupling or decreasing inductive coupling, the near-end output becomes more stable, and the far-end output becomes less stable. Moreover, any increase in the length or capacitive coupling, decreases the bandwidth, whereas any increase in the width or inductive coupling, increases the band- width. Finally, transient simulations with Advanced Design System (ADS) show that the model has an excellent accuracy. Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Background As process technology continues to scale downward from micrometer-to-nanometer, the traditional materials (such as Al and Cu) based interconnects have become serious concerns due to the increased resistivity, susceptibility to electromigration [1,2], short mean free path [3], and strait maximum current density [4]. In the past several years, graphene has attracted much atten- tion due to its superior properties, such as extreme high current carrying capability [2,4,5], long mean free path (i.e., 1 lm at room temperature [3,4]), ballistic transport [6,7], high intrinsic mobility [7–9], high thermal/electrical conductivity [9], and straightforward fabrication processes [2,6,10]. The monolayer GNRs electrical intrinsic resistance is too large to be applicable. In order to sur- mount this problem, MLGNRs which have lesser resistance, must be used in interconnect applications [11]. Generally, VLSI circuits consist of several same interconnects that are adjacent to one another. Parasitic elements, includes mutual inductive and capaci- tive effect generated between adjacent interconnects, makes cross- talk phenomenon. Crosstalk is an extra serious matter in VLSI circuits due to adverse effects such as, overshoot/undershoot [12], delay [13,14], glitch [13]. Therefore, crosstalk makes serious problem for reliable operation of an interconnect application. A closed-form expressions for worst-case time delay due to the crosstalk of coupled interconnect in terms of distributed RC line and considering the parasitic coupling capacitive effect derived in Ref. [15]. The closed-form expressions in previous work, extended by [16] in terms of distributed RLC line and considering the both parasitic coupling effects. In [1] crosstalk analysis is presented for GNRs based intercon- nects and compared with copper and multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) by calculating Crosstalk induced noise and over- shoot/undershoot. In [17] signal integrity analysis for single layer GNR and MLGNR interconnects are carried out based on the cou- pled interconnect with parasitic coupling capacitances. A time and frequency sphere model is presented in [18,19] for analysis of crosstalk effects in CNTs based interconnects. Crosstalk effect of two single-wall Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNTs) are considered in [20], and also crosstalk induced noise has been modeled by statistical alteration of interconnect parameters due to process alteration. An analytical crosstalk model of the peak noise for coupled interconnects with a shield between the lines is presented in [21]. For reduction crosstalk effects some approach such as shield insertion between coupled interconnects, gate http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.microrel.2015.05.004 0026-2714/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding authors. Tel.: +98 9124818098. E-mail addresses: Amin.bagheri87@yahoo.com (A. Bagheri), S.nasiri@qiau.ac.ir (S. Haji-Nasiri). Microelectronics Reliability xxx (2015) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Microelectronics Reliability journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/microrel Please cite this article in press as: Bagheri A et al. Crosstalk bandwidth and stability analysis in graphene nanoribbon interconnects. Microelectron Reliab (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.microrel.2015.05.004