The cutting-edge improvement and continuous shrinking of transistors in E-Systems has resulted in the dense and compact arrangement of devices and interconnects in integrated circuits (ICs). In recent years, VLSI interconnects have been viewed as a particularly promising subject in the realm of IC design. On scaling down, interconnect starts playing a vital role in the overall system performance. The constant progress of technologies has demanded a rapid rise in operating frequencies. Furthermore, the rise in Joule heating and the large increase in grain boundary scattering created a difficult task for future nano-interconnect technology. For choosing interconnect materials like Al, Cu, Au, W, and others, the circuit resistivity and device reliability face difficulty and cause signal integrity, high power dissipation, and crosstalk in IC. To overcome such difficulties, 2D defect-free graphene can be used as an alternative interconnect material due to its high electron mobility and high mean free path, resulting in a high current density and low resistance. In this review paper, a systematic review and present advancements of graphene nanoribbons and their different shapes like L, S, T, U, Z, rectangular, butterfly, etc., have been systematically represented and analysed along with the effect of defects on conductance, which can be used as interconnect in next-generation ICs.

Authors: Simran Patra, Deepak Kumar Naik, Narayan Sahoo