Ab Initio evaluation of electron transport properties of Pt, Rh, Ir, and Pd nanowires for advanced interconnect applications

The electronic and structural properties of nanowires composed of either Pt, Ir, Rh, or Pd are calculated using density functional theory and a non-equilibrium Green's function scattering approach. The results for these nanowires are compared with Cu nanowires of comparable dimensions and evaluated for potential use in interconnect technology applications. The cohesive energies of the Pt, Rh and Ir nanowires are found to be stronger than the corresponding value for bulk Cu, indicating superior structural integrity and resistance to electromigration relative to Cu. Several of the nanowires considered are found to exhibit larger values of ballistic conductance relative to Cu, with maximum conductance occurring along the [110] crystallographic direction. Electron scattering at some representative twin grain boundaries is evaluated and an empirical resistivity model is used to quantitatively estimate the impact of grain size on total resistivity.