Avestia Publishing 134

International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Nanotechnology

Volume 1, Issue 1, Year 2012
Journal ISSN: 1929 - 1248
Article ID: 020, DOI: 10.11159/ijtan.2012.020

Application of Nanotechnology in High Frequency

and Microwave Devices
Parisa Moslemi1, Golamreza Askari1,2
1Information and Communication Technology Institute
Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran 84156-83111
[email protected]; [email protected]

Shamsoddin Mohajerzadeh2, Hamid Mirmohmmad Sadeghi1

2University of Tehran, Department of Electrical Engineering
North Kargar Street, Tehran, Iran 14395-515
[email protected]; [email protected]

Abstract- The study of the ac properties of nano-electronic 1. Introduction

systems is one of the most discussed topics recently. To Since the development of material theory and the
understand the high-frequency electronic properties of carbon improvement of fabrication technology, nanophase materials
nanotubes we should understand passive, ac impedance of a 1D have gained huge attention in various fields due to their
quantum system. In this paper we have tried to use CNT in unusual properties. They can be applied in many disciplines
Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) and Modified SIW such as chemistry, biology, physics and electrics. During
(MSIW) to decrease the electrical energy loss. For this, firstly recent years, enormous progress has been made in the
some of the basic concepts about nanoscale electromagnetic invention and innovation of nanophase materials used in
properties and the qualitative difference in circuit behavior at electromagnetic field, leading to the increasing interest in the
nanoscale is presented. Secondly the electrical properties of study of the properties of various nano-structured
carbon NanoTube and graphene which are the two most composites. The research significance of such materials lies in
technologically advanced examples have been discussed. the fact that they show the potential of acting as the bridge
Thirdly a comparative study of conductive and substrate loss in between the microstructure made of small-sized particles
SIW and MSIW has been conducted for CNT-graphene system and the macrostructure of continuous media, which yields
and copper system. Thus we have suggested the use of CNT- promising results in electromagnetic field. This topic
graphene instead of copper in this substrate. Simulation results continues to expand because of its potential properties and
with the CST Microwave Studio show 70% reduction in applications related to electromagnetic waves, especially the
conductive insertion loss and 40% reduction in total insertion light waves (Yu-Ming et al., 2007).
loss in SIW. We have also studied the use of graphene and CNT The development of fabrication and characterization
in MSIW; the result of simulation with HFSS software is techniques for nanoscale electronic circuit elements has been
presented as well. motivated by the relentless progress of the semiconductor
industry in scaling down feature sizes. At the same time, clock
Keywords: Nanotechnology, Electromagnetic Properties, rates of globally pervasive digital circuitry have moved into
Nanotubes, SIW, MSIW, Insertion loss the microwave (GHz) frequency range (Rutherglen and
Burke, 2009). It seems then, that with the predicted progress
© Copyright 2012 Authors - This is an Open Access article towards nanometer-scale feature sizes, GHz clock rates, and
published under the Creative Commons Attribution microwave wireless communications as an ever increasing
License terms (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0). part of modern technology. However, a very few efforts have
Unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium been made to understand the properties of circuits,
are permitted, provided the original work is properly cited. interconnects, devices, and antennas with nanoscale
dimensions.
 135

The first aim of this work is to present some of the basic Measurements on parallel devices can be plagued with
concepts about nanoscale electromagnetic properties and uncertainties, since each of individual devices is different
that of how circuit behavior is qualitatively different at (Rutherglen and Burke, 2009 ;Yu et al., 2005).
nanometer scale feature sizes. Recently effective circuit
model for the ac impedance of a capacitively contacted 3. Individual Nanotubes over Ground Plane
nanotube, and a dc contacted nanotube is proposed, which There are three separate techniques of solving the
demonstrate the operation of carbon nanotube transistors at electromagnetic of carbon nanotubes, some more general,
microwave frequencies (2.6 GHz). Nanotubes (and and some more useful.
nanowires) can operate as transistors; however, this is only The first approach (Belarus method) is simply to write
possible if the parasitic capacitances can be minimized. One down the full 3D version of the Boltzmann transport equation
way to do this is to use nanotubes and nanowires as the (BTE), and the boundary conditions on Maxwell’s equations,
interconnects (Burke, 2003b). and claim generality and completeness. This most general
The second aim is replacing of carbon nanotube and approach, which was developed by Slepyan and co-workers
graphene sheet with copper in Substrate Integrated circuits. (Yevtushenko et al., 1997).
For this purpose a general view on SIW and verifying its The second method (Perdue method) is to write down
insertion loss is studied. The simulation results with CST the 1D versions of the Boltzmann transport equation, and to
software show a very less insertion loss in SIW by using develop equivalent circuit models based on this (Salahuddin
graphene and CNT instead of copper. et al., 2005).
The third aim is simulating the new structure MSIW The third approach (Irvine method) develops circuits
which is proposed by Ranjkesh and Shahabadi, 2008,2006. from simple physical arguments. While the least rigorous, it is
The results of simulating with HFSS software matched to the perhaps the most applicable to real world situations, since it
expectance show the difference in loss contribution of the aims to understand currents and voltages at all points in a
elements of SIW and MSIW. In MSIW conductive has more nanotube circuit (Rutherglen and Burke, 2009).
contribution loss then substrate. All three methods yield identical answers when their
The forth aim is replacing of carbon nanotube and areas of prediction overlap. The Purdue method extend to
graphene sheet with copper in MSIW to adjust the loss more complicated geometries, which is important for
contribution of the elements. understanding crosstalk in nanotube and between nanotube
interconnects. Irvine method being based on Kirchhoff’s laws
2. Circuit Model and Electromagnetic Properties is useful and easier to use for experimental and practical
This section presents a discussion of the electromagnetic purpose. However it has less generality or rigidity.
properties of nanoscale electrical conductors, which are Figure 1 shows the equivalent RF circuit model for a
quantum mechanical one-dimensional systems. Of these, SWNT over a highly conducting ground plane, neglecting
carbon nanotubes are the most technologically advanced damping. In this approach, each of the three circuit elements
example which is mainly discussed in this section. in the figure is driven independently.
There is an apparent built in impedance mismatch
between nanotechnology and RF. This mismatch has
occupied the single-electron transistor community for many
years and is now germane to the issue of nanotube-based
devices (Rutherglen and Burke, 2009). Anytime the outside
world is coupled at high frequency to a nanodevice, there is
an inherent mismatch. This means that characterization, Fig. 1. Equivalent RF circuit model for a SWNT (Yu-Ming et al.,
which is typically based on reflection, transmission, or 2007)
scattering measurements, gives rise to very small signals:
since the nanodevices are very small, they do not affect the In the presence of a ground plane, the magnetic
microwaves very much. This is a big measurement challenge. conductance per unit length is given by:
One approach to solving this challenge is to develop excellent
calibration techniques that fully characterize all of the (1)
parasitic before measuring the actual device. This is cosh ( ) ln
extremely time consuming, but certainly possible. Another
solution is to measure the change in the microwave Where d is the nanotube diameter, a is the distance to
properties with a dc voltage, which has been successfully the ‘‘ground plane’’, and μM is the magnetic permeability of
applied in several cases. However, one loses absolute the medium. The approximation is good within 1% for a>2d.
accuracy with this technique. A final technique is to carry out In nano scale, LM is negligible as compared to Lk.
measurements on many devices in parallel. However, in
general it is very difficult to fabricate identical nanodevices. 1 (2)
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Wave-velocity is the speed of energy and information

μm is used for the length units because modern growth propagation and, for an electromagnetic wave, must be less
processes produce nanotubes with lengths of order than the speed of light c. For a general wave of wavelength λ
micrometers and not (as of yet) meters (Rutherglen and and frequency υ, the group velocity is given by V=λυ . For a
Burke, 2009; Burke, 2003a). sinusoidal wave: Vf=1/sqrt(Lk CQ) and Vf for carbon is about
The following expression is for the kinetic energy per 810 m/s.
unit length:
4. Conductor and Dielectric loss in SIW and MSIW
e (3) A waveguide is a physical structure that guides
electromagnetic waves in the optical spectrum. A rectangular
The Fermi velocity for graphene and also carbon waveguide, is formed when the guiding layer of the slab
nanotubes is usually taken as νF=800 kms-1, so that waveguide is restricted in transverse directions. In the
numerically: Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW), two periodic rows of
plated via- holes are embedded in the substrate. They along
(4) with the top and bottom metallic layers of the substrate
introduce a structure similar to the common RWs (Ranjkesh
The electrostatic capacitance between a wire and a and Shahabadi, 2008).
ground plane as shown in Figure 9 is given by:

(5)
cosh ( ) ln

Where the approximation is good to within 1% for

h>2d.This can be approximated numerically as:

(6) Fig. 2. General view of SIW(Bozzi et al., 2008)

The physical origin of the quantum capacitance comes

from the finite density of states at the Fermi energy. Because
of this, to add an extra electron to the system, it takes a finite
amount of energy above the Fermi energy. The following
expression is for the (quantum) capacitance per unit length:

e (7)

(8)
Fig. 3. Modified structure of SIW with air-cut region (Ranjkesh and
The ratio of the electrostatic to the quantum capacitance Shahabadi, 2006).
is then given by:
In addition to advantages of RW, like high quality-factor
(9) and high power-handling capability, SIW technique permits
ln ( ) ln ( ) to fabricate a complete circuit, using a standard printed
e
circuit board or other planar processing techniques which
produces low-loss, and high-density integration of
Thus, when considering the capacitive behavior of
microwave and millimetres-wave components and
nanoelectronic circuit elements, both the quantum
subsystems (Bozzi et al., 2008). For reduction of dielectric
capacitance and the electrostatic capacitance must be
losses in the SIW, a new structure called modified substrate
considered (Rutherglen and Burke, 2009; Burke et al., 2006;
integrated waveguide (MSIW) was introduced in which some
Burke, 2003a,b)
part of the dielectric of the substrate between periodic
Also the dc resistance per unit length is estimated at
sidewalls has been removed (Ranjkesh and Shahabadi., 2008-
about 6kΩ/μm. Thus, if the ac damping is the same as the dc
2006). Figure 4 shows the Attenuation constants of the SIW
damping, the equivalent circuit model should include a
and MSIW structures on RO4003C and RT5990.
resistance per unit length as well (Rutherglen and Burke,
2009).
 137

graphite block and placed onto an oxidized silicon substrate.

They used electron beam lithography to construct four
electrode contacts on the graphene, then used lithography to
fabricate devices consisting of parallel nanoribbons of widths
ranging between 18 and 52 nanometers (Li et al., 2004).
Angstron, the first advanced materials company, offer large
quantities of single atomic layer thick nano-graphene
platelets (NGPs) that outperform other nanomaterials. The
carbon-based NGPs aim to be cost-effective and high-quality
alternatives to nanotubes (Web-2).
Fig. 4. Attenuation constants of the SIW and MSIW structures on two Because of CNT’s superior transport properties,
common substrates (Ranjkesh and Shahabadi, 2008). including conductivities higher than copper (Li et al., 2004),
single-walled carbon nanotubes are possible candidates as
interconnects in either all-nano or hybrid silicon-nano
integrated circuits. In addition, the current density achievable
in carbon nanotubes (≈109A cm-2) is larger than that
achievable in Cu (≈107A cm-2), due to electro migration
problems. An issue that has not been experimentally
addressed in any detail is the high -speed performance of
carbon nanotubes as interconnects.
For a single nanotube, the resistivity is lower than bulk
copper. However, bulk copper resistivity values are not
always attainable, due to enhanced surface scattering. So for
narrow-line-width interconnects, the resistivity of Cu is
Fig. 5. Normalized dissipated powers for the SIW and MSIW
structures on RT5880 substrate (Ranjkesh and Shahabadi, 2008). larger than its bulk value. These principles are illustrated in
Figure 6. For the copper resistivity, the Fuchs/Sondheimer
Figure 5 shows Normalized dissipated powers for the and Mayadas/Shatzkes model are used. For the SWNT, data
SIW and MSIW structures on RT5880 substrate. from Purewal is used, extrapolating to 1000C. The detailed
parameters of the model may vary, but qualitative
conclusions can still be drawn
5. Graphene and CNT instead of Copper in SIW
The results suggest that graphene could out-perform
copper for use as on-chip interconnects and could enhance
the performance of silicon-based integrated circuit
technology (Web-1).
Graphene nanowire interconnects on the scale of 20
nanometers show that their performance is comparable to
the most optimistic projections for copper interconnects at
that scale. At this size and under real-world conditions,
graphene interconnects could probably out-perform copper Fig. 6. Resistivity versus diameter for copper and SWNTs at
with: resistivity improvement, higher electron mobility, 20°Cand 100 °C (Yu-Ming et al., 2007)
better thermal conductivity, higher mechanical strength and
reduced capacitance coupling between adjacent wires. Also The primary conclusion is that the resistivity of SWNTs
the resistivity is normally independent of the dimension is lower than bulk copper, and that surface scattering (which
(Bozzi et al., 2008). On the other hand as you get into the plagues copper at narrow line widths) is not an issue for
nanometer-scale domain, the grain sizes of the copper SWNTs. Carbon nanotubes and graphene have the current
become important and conductance is affected by scattering density 100 times more than copper. These conclusions have
at the grain boundaries and at the side walls. These add up to motivated more detailed studies comparing Cu to SWNTs in
increased resistivity, which nearly doubles as the various applications (Burke et al., 2006; Rutherglen and
interconnect sizes shrink to 30 nanometers. Burke, 2009; Yu et al., 2005; Web-2).
Because graphene can be patterned using conventional
microelectronics processes, the transition from copper could 6. Results of Substitution of Graphene and CNT
be made without integrating a new manufacturing technique Instead of Copper in SIW and Discussion
into circuit fabrication. Experimentally, the researchers The synthesis of nanotubes has rapidly developed, and
began with flakes of multi-layered graphene removed from a currently the longest SWNTs synthesized are over 1 cm long.
 138

The next challenge in synthesis challenges will be to develop the effect of changing copper vias of SIW with CNT and
densely spaced SWNTs that are well aligned. copper sheet of SIW with graphene plane. At first the losses in
SIW were simulated with CST software. Figure 7 shows the
SIW structure in CST. Then the copper was substituted with
the material with conductivity 10 times higher than copper
and the losses were simulated again. The simulation results
in both cases for two conventional substrates (RT5880 and
RO4003) are presented in table 1.
As it is shown in table 1, the reduction of conductor
losses are better than %70, and the reduction of total losses
are better than %35, which are remarkable. In addition, use
of MSIW structure instead of SIW can reduce substrate losses
without increasing conductor losses. Mixing these two
conditions can lead us to the better design that will be
Fig. 7. SIW structure in CST. presented in the next works.

In the previous section it has been established that some

materials like nano-graphen sheets and nanotubes have
conductivity more than copper. Now we want to investigate

Table 1. Simulation results in SIW for two conventional substrates (RT5880 and RO4003) at f=10GHz.

conductivity εr Surface Loss % Volume loss(W) Loss% Total

Loss(W)/%Red loss(W)/%Red
5.8e+007 (cu) 2.2 1.90e-2 49.9 1.91e-2 50.1 3.82e-2
5.8e+008(CNT) 2.2 6.1e-3/70% 24.3 1.91e-2 75.7 2.53e-2/%35
5.8e+007 (cu) 4 2.29e-2 49.8 2.31e-2 50.2 4.60e-2
5.8e+008(CNT) 4 7.42e-3/70% 24.3 2.31e-2 75.7 3.05e-2/%40

7. Results of Simulating of SIW & MSIW to compare

their loss contribution
To compare the loss contribution in SIW and MSIW we
simulated these two structures with HFSS software for two
different substrates.

Fig. 9. Attenuation constants(MSIW-RO=red, MSIW-RT=green, SIW-

RO=pink, SIW-RT=blue)

The geometry was the same as one proposed by

Ranjkesh and Shahabadi, 2008 : For RO4003C substrate (εr
=3.38, tan (δ) =0.0027) a=8 mm, L=2mm and w/a=0.9 and for
RT5880 substrate (εr =2.2, tan (δ) =0.0009) a=10mm,
L=2.2mm and w/a=0.9. Other parameters were selected as
Fig. 8. SIW and MSIW in HFSS b=c=0.8mm and h= 0.7874 mm, for all structures. All metallic
parts were copper with σ =5.8e+007.
The attenuation constants of the SIW and MSIW are
shown in figure 9. As expected, attenuation constant of the
MSIW is less than SIW.
Normalized copper and dielectric loss for RO4003C
and RT5880 in SIW and MSIW are shown in figures 10 and
 139

11. The results agree with that in (Ranjkesh and Shahabadi,

2008, 2006). The ratio of conductive loss to dielectric loss for
RO4003C in SIW is nearly 0.25 but for MSIW it is nearly 49.
This ratio for RT5880 in SIW is nearly 0.67 and for MSIW it is
nearly 100.

Fig. 13. Normalized dissipated power(RO4003C) (MSIW-cu=pink,

MSIW-de=green, SIW-cu=red, SIW-de=blue)

Fig. 10. Normalized dissipated power(RO4003C) (MSIW-cu=pink,

MSIW-de=green, SIW-cu=red, SIW-de=blue).

Fig. 14. Normalized dissipated power(RT5880) (MSIW-cu=pink,

MSIW-de=green, SIW-cu=red, SIW-de=blue)

The ratio of conductive loss to dielectric loss for

RO4003C in SIW is nearly 0.075 but for MSIW it is nearly 13.
This ratio for RT5880 in SIW is nearly 2.2 and for MSIW it is
nearly 95.

Fig. 11. Normalized dissipated power(RT5880) (MSIW-cu=pink, 9. Conclusion

MSIW-de=green, SIW-cu=red, SIW-de=blue). In this project we reviewed the basic concepts about
nanoscale electromagnetic properties and that of how circuit
8. Results of Substitution of Graphene and CNT behavior is qualitatively different at nanometer scale feature
instead of copper in SIW & MSIW and discussion sizes, and then Conductive and substrate loss of Substrate
Using Graphene and CNT with conductivity 10 times Integrated Waveguide (SIW) and Modified SIW were
more than copper causes decrease in conductive loss. surveyed. Use of graphene and CNT instead of copper in SIW
In other word by using conductors with more and MSIW was studied and remarkable results were
conductivity we can adjust high ratio of conductive loss to obtained.
dielectric loss in MSIW. The results of simulation in HFSS are
shown in figure 12, 13. Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Information and
Communication technology Institute for their facilities,
contributions of this work.

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Web sites:

Web-1:
Graphene may have advantages over copper for IC
interconnects at the nanoscale,
http://www.nanitenews.com/research/Graphene_may_
have_advantages_over_copper_for_IC_interconnects_at_t
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Angstron claims new nano-graphene platelets outperform
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http://www.electroiq.com/articles/stm/2008/04/angst
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other-nanomaterials.html