www.nanopicoftheday.org
March 22, 2004
Silicon
Sheathed Nanotubes
Source: Meyya
Meyyappan
NASA
Ames Research Center
References:
- "Bottom-up approach for
carbon nanotube interconnects" Jun Li, Qi Ye, Alan Cassell, Hou Tee Ng,
Ramsey Stevens, Jie Han, and M. Meyyappan, Appl. Phys. Lett. 82,
2491 (2003).
Description:
Researchers at NASA hope that by using Carbon Nanotubes manufacturers will be
able to add more cake-like layers of components to silicon chips to increase
computer capability. Because copper’s (which is currently used in microchips)
resistance to electricity flow increases greatly as the metal’s dimensions
decrease, there is a limit to how small copper conductors can be. In contrast,
extremely tiny carbon nanotubes can substitute for copper conductors in smaller
computer chip electronic configurations because carbon nanotube electrical
resistance is not high.
The new process includes ‘growing’ microscopic, whisker-like carbon nanotubes on
the surface of a silicon wafer by means of a chemical process. Researchers
deposit a layer of silica over the nanotubes grown on the chip to fill the
spaces between the tubes. Then the surface is polished flat. Scientists can
build more multiple, cake-like layers with vertical carbon nanotube ‘wires’ that
can interconnect layers of electronics that make up the chip.
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