Signal transmission characteristics of some multilayer graphene nano-ribbon (MLGNR) interconnects are studied in this paper, with an equivalent single-conductor (ESC) model implemented for the analysis of their transient responses. In this model, both capacitive and inductive couplings between adjacent GNR layers are treated appropriately. According to the derived transfer function using the fourth-order approximation, the output voltage waveforms are predicted for both 14- and 22-nm technology nodes. In particular, the effects of Fermi level of MLGNR on the time delay of the transmitted rectangular pulse are examined and compared. Based on the decoupled partially differential equations (PDEs) for the common and differential modes of voltage wave propagation in the edge-coupled MLGNR interconnects, their output voltage responses are also predicted for different technology nodes, which are useful for the evaluation of on-chip signal integrity or EMC and EMI issues of MLGNR-built transmission lines for the future ICs.

The concept of graphene-based two-dimensional leaky-wave antenna (LWA), allowing both frequency tuning and beam steering in the terahertz band, is proposed in this paper. In its design, a graphene sheet is used as a tuning part of the high-impedance surface (HIS) that acts as the ground plane of such 2-D LWA. It is shown that, by adjusting the graphene conductivity, the reflection phase of the HIS can be altered effectively, thus controlling the resonant frequency of the 2-D LWA over a broad band. In addition, a flexible adjustment of its pointing direction can be achieved over a wide range, while keeping the operating frequency fixed. Transmission-line methods are used to accurately predict the antenna reconfigurable characteristics, which are further verified by means of commercial full-wave analysis tools.

Based on an equivalent single-conductor (ESC) model of multilayer graphene nanoribbon (MLGNR) interconnects with side contacts, comparative study on their distributed parameters and transmission characteristics is performed in this paper. It is found that the number of conducting channels of a metallic MLGNR interconnect is the linear function of its width and Fermi energy, which can be described by an analytical equation. Its equivalent inductance and capacitance in the ESC model can also be characterized by a set of closed-form equations. Furthermore, according to the ITRS projection, transmission performance of the MLGNR interconnects with different contacts are predicted and compared with their Cu and carbon nanotube counterparts at different technology nodes. Also, some numerical results prove that MLGNR interconnects can provide better performance than Cu wires in particular at intermediate level. Even with the maximum crosstalk impacts considered, the advantage of MLGNR interconnects over Cu wires can still be kept.

The paper proposes an ultrahigh sensitivity microwave sensor for retrieving the complex permittivity of the liquid sample. The proposed sensor originally evolves from the complementary split-ring resonator-based sensor, which confines the electric field in the slot of the resonator. A complementary electric-LC resonator structure is applied to substitute the CSRR due to its excellent ability of concentrating the electric field. To further improve the field confinement, a meander slot is embedded in the central arm of the resonator. Then, two etched complementary split-ring resonators are added on both sides of the central meander arm of the modified complementary electric-LC resonator. A polydimethylsiloxane microfluidic channel substrate is placed on the meander arm, and a mixture of water-ethanol is injected. The variations in the resonant frequency and peak attenuation are used to retrieve the complex permittivity of the injected liquid sample. The developed sensors are fabricated and tested, and a good agreement is observed between measured data and reference values. The peak sensitivities in retrieving the relative permittivity achieve 2.5% and 2.71% with the proposed sensors, which are much higher than previously reported designs.