hw04_Xi Qian - Advanced VLSI Design Homework 4 Reading...

Advanced VLSI Design Homework 4 – Reading report
Xi Qian
Scientists are always seeking new materials and fabrications to improve the
performance, integration and lifecycle of logic devices. The paper “Computation with
Carbon Nanotube Devices” introduces basic conceptions and development of
nannotube usages. Main points and related advantages/roadblocks are as follow:
1.
Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube (SWNT) can be used to replace the silicon
channel of MOSFETs. Semiconducting SWNT provides less electron scattering,
higher thermal conductivity, and more robust, chemically inert structures. Real
implemented products demonstrate much higher electron mobility and faster
switching speed, than Si MOSFETs. However, the wide use of this approach is
primarily handicapped by the lithography limitation to achieve relatively big
channel length, and moreover, the fabrication nowadays cannot yet achieve large-
scale layout of SWNT devices.