***Archived: This is a past project, it is not on offer at the moment!***
Project Description:
Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) are quasi one-dimensional molecular structures with a diameter of a few nanometers and a a length that can exceed a few tens of microns (Fig. 1). Because of the quasi ballistic transport of current through CNTs, they represent a very attractive replacement of silicon channels in Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect-Transistors (MOSFET) in the future.
The obtained Carbon Nanotube Field-Effect-Transistors (CNTFET) are not only superior to MOSFET in terms of speed and power consumption, but they also offer more functionalities thanks to their ambipolar behavior (Fig. 2). CNTFET can be fabricated such that their p- or n-type polarity can be set in-field and during normal circuit operation. Many new circuits can be designed based on this unique feature.
The purpose of the project is to investigate the design aspects of logic circuits based on ambipolar CNTFET, and to compare the obtained performance and area with CMOS counterparts. Existing novel static and pseudo logic families using ampolar CNTFETs will be considered in this project. The assessment of their performance will be carried out by using existing HSPICE models.
HSPICE simulations will have as the main purpose to simulate the correct operation of benchmark circuits and to estimate their delay and power consumption.
Project Organization:
- Literature research on ambipolar CNTFET logic circuits
- Design of a benchmark of logic circuits (to be defined) in the considered CNTFET logic families as well as in CMOS static logic.
- Comparison of the circuit performance. Analysis of power consumption and power-aware design based on ambipolar CNTFET.
Requirements:
- Very basic knowledge of field-effect transistor physics
- Familiar with common logic circuit families
- Previous use of HSPICE is an important plus. Otherwise, willing to understand and use HSPICE simulator is mandatory.
This project was supervised by Haykel Ben Jamaa.
***Archived: This is a past project, it is not on offer at the moment!***