A CNFET-based characterization framework for digital circuits

Abstract

This paper introduces a framework to develop and characterize digital circuits using Carbon Nanotube Field Effect Transistors (CNFET). We define a 4-step process that involves design capture, pre-processing, circuit simulation and results extraction and interpretation. The initial work leading to this framework involves the selection of appropriate CNFET model and model parameters, and determination of optimized substrate voltage. Through a set of custom-design automated scripts, various logic gates were simulated, data were compiled and characterization results were obtained. A complete approximate squarer circuit was also designed, implemented and characterized using the framework. To demonstrate the power of Carbon Nanotube technology, the same circuit was also implemented in 16 nm CMOS technology for comparison. An improvement by factor of 17× in PDP was achieved with CNT.