Engineering Commons^™

Structural Characteristics Of Carbon Nanofibers For On-Chip Interconnect Applications, Yusuke Ominami, Quoc Ngo, Alexander J. Austin, Hans Yoong, Cary Y. Yang, Alan M. Cassell, Brett A. Cruden, Jun Li, M. Meyyappan

Electrical and Computer Engineering

In this letter, we compare the structures of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of Ni-catalyzed and Pd-catalyzed carbon nanofibers (CNFs) synthesized for on-chip interconnect applications with scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). The Ni-catalyzed CNF has a conventional fiberlike structure and many graphitic layers that are almost parallel to the substrate at the CNF base. In contrast, the Pd-catalyzed CNF has a multiwall nanotubelike structure on the sidewall spanning the entire CNF. The microstructure observed in the Pd-catalyzed fibers at the CNF-metal interface has the potential to lower contact resistance significantly, as our electrical measurements using current-sensing atomic force microscopy indicate. A …