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Impact of the CNT growth process on gold metallization dedicated to RF interconnect applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2010

Chin Chong Yap
Affiliation:
CINTRA CNRS/NTU/THALES, UMI 3288, Research Techno Plaza, 50 Nanyang Drive, Border X Block, Level 6, Singapore 637553, Singapore. Phone: +65 81213174; Fax: +65 68967448. School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Block S1, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
Dunlin Tan
Affiliation:
CINTRA CNRS/NTU/THALES, UMI 3288, Research Techno Plaza, 50 Nanyang Drive, Border X Block, Level 6, Singapore 637553, Singapore. Phone: +65 81213174; Fax: +65 68967448. School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Block S1, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
Christophe Brun
Affiliation:
CINTRA CNRS/NTU/THALES, UMI 3288, Research Techno Plaza, 50 Nanyang Drive, Border X Block, Level 6, Singapore 637553, Singapore. Phone: +65 81213174; Fax: +65 68967448. XLIM UMR 6172, Université de Limoges/CNRS, 123 Avenue Albert Thomas 87060 Limoges, France.
Hong Li
Affiliation:
School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Block S1, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
Edwin Hang Tong Teo
Affiliation:
CINTRA CNRS/NTU/THALES, UMI 3288, Research Techno Plaza, 50 Nanyang Drive, Border X Block, Level 6, Singapore 637553, Singapore. Phone: +65 81213174; Fax: +65 68967448. School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Block S1, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
Dominique Baillargeat*
Affiliation:
CINTRA CNRS/NTU/THALES, UMI 3288, Research Techno Plaza, 50 Nanyang Drive, Border X Block, Level 6, Singapore 637553, Singapore. Phone: +65 81213174; Fax: +65 68967448.
Beng Kang Tay
Affiliation:
CINTRA CNRS/NTU/THALES, UMI 3288, Research Techno Plaza, 50 Nanyang Drive, Border X Block, Level 6, Singapore 637553, Singapore. Phone: +65 81213174; Fax: +65 68967448. School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Block S1, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
*
Corresponding author: D. Baillargeat Email: dbaillargeat@ntu.edu.sg

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are a unique group of materials with high aspect ratio, mechanical and electrical properties, which are of great interests in the field of interconnects, and radio frequency applications. In order to incorporate CNTs into any of these applications successfully, one important issue that has to be resolved is the critical parameters (temperature and reactant gases) associated with the growth of the CNTs. As such, the effect of these growth requirements on the adjacent components should be studied. In this work, we examined specifically the effect of carbon nanotubes growth on the underlying metallization, in particular gold, dedicated for radio-frequency-based applications. The gold coplanar lines were annealed at 800°C in a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system to simulate the worst-case condition. The reflection and transmission parameters were analyzed using a probe station connected to a vector network analyzer. Carbon nanotubes grown on different barrier layers were also characterized using a scanning electron microscope and Raman spectroscopy to identify a suitable barrier layer for gold. Our results showed that it is promising to integrate carbon nanotubes grown using PECVD onto Au coplanar waveguide without degrading the S-parameters measurements up to 20 GHz.

Type
Original Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and the European Microwave Association 2010

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