Resistivity of Graphene Nanoribbon Interconnects

Graphene nanoribbon (GNR) interconnects are fabricated, and the extracted resistivity is compared to that of Cu. It is found that the average resistivity at a given linewidth (18 nm < W < 52 nm) is about three times that of a Cu wire, whereas the best GNR has a resistivity that is comparable to that of Cu. The conductivity is found to be limited by impurity scattering as well as line-edge roughness scattering; as a result, the best reported GNR resistivity is three times the limit imposed by substrate phonon scattering. This letter reveals that even moderate-quality graphene nanowires have the potential to outperform Cu for use as on-chip interconnects.