Carbon nanotube interconnect
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
InventorsJun Li, Meyya Meyyappan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Method and system for fabricating an electrical interconnect capable of supporting very high current densities (106–1010 Amps/cm2), using an array of one or more carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The CNT array is grown in a selected spaced apart pattern, preferably with multi-wall CNTs, and a selected insulating material, such as SiOw or SiuNv, is deposited using CVD to encapsulate each CNT in the array. An exposed surface of the insulating material is planarized to provide one or more exposed electrical contacts for one or more CNTs.
Claims19
A method for fabricating an electrical interconnect, the method comprising:
- depositing a selected conductive substance of a first selected thickness on a substrate of selected material;
- depositing a selected catalyst substance in a selected pattern in a selected second thickness on the conductive substance;
- growing an array of one or more spaced apart multi-wall carbon nanotubes (“MWCNTs”) on the selected pattern to a selected MWCNT third thickness, using a plasma enhanced CVD process, so that each MWCNT is oriented at approximately a selected angle θ, relative to an exposed surface of the conductive substance at a first end of the at least one MWCNT;
- depositing a selected insulator material around at least one MWCNT so that the selected insulator encapsulates the at least one MWCNT;
- and
- performing chemical mechanical polishing of the selected insulator and of the MWCNT array to provide an approximately planar surface of the selected insulator in which a second end of each of the at least one MWCNT is exposed above an exposed surface of the insulator by a distance in a range of 1–50 nm.
A method for fabricating an electrical interconnect, the method comprising:
- depositing a selected conductive substance of a first selected thickness on a substrate of selected material;
- depositing a selected catalyst substance in a selected pattern in a selected second thickness on the conductive substance;
- providing an electric field, oriented substantially at a selected angle θ relative to an exposed surface of the conductive substance, where the electric field has an intensity in a range E=20–5,000 volts/cm and the angle θ lies in a range of about 0°≦θ≦90°;
- growing an array of one or more spaced apart multi-wall carbon nanotubes (“MWCNTs”) on the selected pattern to a selected MWCNT third thickness, using a plasma enhanced CVD process, so that each MWCNT is oriented approximately at the selected angle θ, relative to an exposed surface of the conductive substance at a first end of the at least one MWCNT;
- depositing a selected insulator material around at least one MWCNT so that the selected insulator encapsulates the at least one MWCNT;
- and
- performing chemical mechanical polishing of the selected insulator and of the MWCNT array to provide an approximately planar surface of the selected insulator in which a second end of each of the at least one MWCNT is exposed above an exposed surface of the insulator.
A method for fabricating an electrical interconnect, the method comprising:
- depositing a selected conductive substance of a first selected thickness on a substrate of selected material;
- depositing a selected catalyst substance in a selected pattern in a selected second thickness on the conductive substance;
- growing an array of one or more spaced apart multi-wall carbon nanotubes (“MWCNTs”) on the selected pattern to a selected MWCNT third thickness, using a plasma enhanced CVD process, so that each MWCNT is oriented at approximately a selected angle θ, relative to an exposed surface of the conductive substance at a first end of the at least one MWCNT;
- depositing a selected insulator material around at least one MWCNT so that the selected insulator encapsulates the at least one MWCNT;
- performing chemical mechanical polishing of the selected insulator and of the MWCNT array to provide an approximately planar surface of the selected insulator in which a second end of each of the at least one MWCNT is exposed above an exposed surface of the insulator;
- and
- providing a coating of a selected thickness of a selected nitride for at least one of the array of MWCNTs, before the insulator material is deposited around the at least one of the MWCNTs.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.