Nanotechnology has taken another significant step toward someday revolutionizing the computer industry. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute recently used Rensselaer’s Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations, the world’s most powerful university-based supercomputer, to measure the key characteristics of both copper nanowires and carbon nanotube bundles using advanced quantum- mechanical computer modeling. It was the first time quantum mechanics had been used instead of empirical laws to study the performance of copper nanowire.
After months of intense number crunching, the researchers concluded that carbon nanotube bundles exhibit much less electrical resistance than copper nanowires. What this means, potentially, is that carbon nanotubes may hold more promise for use in electronic interconnect applications than copper nanowires. “Given the data we collected,†said team leader Saroj Nayak, an associate professor at Rensselaer’s Department of Applied Physics and Astronomy, “we believe that carbon nanotubes at 45 nanometers will outperform copper nanowire.â€
The reason researchers are so excited about this discovery is because as computer chips shrink, so do their interconnects. As copper interconnects get smaller, their resistance increases, which degrades their ability to conduct electricity and generates additional heat.
