Thermal and Single Event Transient Analysis of Copper–Carbon Nanotube and Triangular Carbon Nanotube Interconnects

Cu‐CNT and triangular interconnect structures have attracted attention in recent years, as they offer improved performance, scalability, and reliability in advanced integrated circuits (ICs). At nanometer‐scale technology nodes, single‐event transients (SETs) pose a significant challenge to the reliability of ICs. The susceptibility of nanoscale circuits to SETs increases with higher operating frequencies due to enhanced crosstalk effects among interconnects. In this paper, the RLC of copper‐single walled carbon nanotube (Cu‐SWCNT) and triangular CNT (TCNT) interconnects are analyzed. A circuit model for single‐event crosstalk (SEC) is developed to study the impact of interconnect length, diameter of the CNT and technology node on SEC performance under various temperatures are studied. The simulation results indicate that, compared with the Cu‐SWCNT interconnect line, the peak voltage and pulse width of SEC in TCNT interconnect are reduced by 59% and 12%, respectively, at the 14 nm technology node. For TCNT interconnect, a smaller CNT diameter results in a reduced SEC effect. The noise area of Cu‐SWCNT and TCNT interconnects is also analyzed at the 21 and 14 nm technology nodes, providing insights for the design of radiation‐resilient nanoscale circuits.