Impact of thermal boundary conductances on power dissipation and electrical breakdown of carbon nanotube network transistors

Abstract

We study the impact of thermal boundary conductance (TBC) at carbon nanotube (CNT)-substrate interfaces and CNT junctions on power dissipation and breakdown in CNT network based thin film transistors (CN-TFTs). Comparison of our results from an electro-thermal transport model of CN-TFTs to experimental measurements of power dissipation and temperature profiles allows us to estimate the average CNT-SiO2 TBC as g ∼ 0.16 Wm−1 K−1 and the TBC at CNT junctions as GC ∼ 2.4 pWK−1. We find the peak power dissipation in CN-TFTs is more strongly correlated to the TBC of the CNT-substrate interface than to the TBC at CNT junctions. Molecular dynamics simulations of crossed CNT junctions also reveal that the top CNT is buckled over ∼30 nm lengths, losing direct contact with the substrate and creating highly localized hot-spots. Our results provide new insights into CNT network properties which can be engineered to enhance performance of CN-TFTs for macro and flexible electronics applications.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Dec 15, 2012
Source ID
10.1063/1.4767920

Entities

People

  • Ashkan Behnam
  • David Estrada
  • Eric Pop
  • Liang Chen
  • Man Prakash Gupta
  • Satish Kumar

Organizations

  • Georgia Tech
  • National Science Foundation
  • Office of Naval Research
  • University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Electronics Engineering
  • Nanocomposite Materials Science
  • Research Science/Academic Research

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics