On the Effect of Width of Metallic Armchair
Graphene Nanoribbons in Plasmonic Waveguide
Applications
Sami Smaili, Vikas Singal, and Yehia Massoud
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department,University of Alabama at Birmingham,
Birmingham, Al 35294
Abstract-Graphene demonstrates superior electronic
properties that make it a potential candidate for future
electronic systems. Graphene, additionally, support surface
plasmon oscillations, which in turn makes graphene at­
tractive for optoelectronics because of its planar structure
and its conductivity properties. W hen a graphene layer is
confined in one dimension, a graphene nanoribbon arises,
with proerties differing from the original two dimensional
graphene. In this paper we study the main properties
of plasmon oscillations on metallic armchair graphene
nanoribbons using the dielectric function obtained through
the random phase approximation. We mainly study the
effect of the graphene nanoribbon width on the plasmon
propagation length using numerical techniques to extract
the dispersion relation of graphene nanoribbons and the
propagation properties of palsmons on graphene nanorib­
bons.
I. INTRODUCTION
The excellent electrical properties of graphene
allows this material to play an important role in
a wide range of applications such as high density
interconnects for VLSI systems, new field effect
transistors, and THz devices [1]. Graphene based
electronics are suggested for applications in analog
and RF systems to enhance the performance of
such systems and to mitigate the limitations that
faces current technologies [2]-[27] . The planar
nature of graphene makes graphene based devices
extremely small. Thus, while allowing high levels
of miniaturization, graphene has excellent electronic
properties that allow the realization of high perfor­
mance electronic and optoelectronic devices.
Plasmonic devices, in general, are characterized
978-1-4673-1124-3/12/$31.00 ©2012 IEEE
623 24,2023 at 11:16:04 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
Authorized licensed use limited to: KAUST. Downloaded on December
mainly by their ability to manipulate light at sub­
wavelength scales [28]-[34]. Combining the ex­
cellent electronic properties of graphene with the
power of plasmonics promise to provide novel solu­
tions for a wide range of applications. For instance,
graphene plasmonic devices promise to play an
important role in future VLSI systems to mitigate
the effects of their down scaling using current
technologiessystems [26], [35]-[78].
Graphene consists of a sheet of honeycomb lattice
of carbon atoms in which the electrons can be
treated as a two dimensional electron gas (2DEG).
Graphene support plasmon oscillations (the oscil­
lations of charge density) at THz frequencies, and
thus can be used to build nanoscale THz waveg­
uides. Plasmonic devices that utilize the plasmon
oscillation on metal-dielectric interfaces have been
used for sub wavelength waveguiding of optical
waves [1].
Graphene Nanoribbons (GNRs) consist of
graphene sheets with finite width. The confined
dimension makes the properties of GNRs different
from those of inifinite graphene layers [79]. The
type of GNR depends on the way the graphene
sheet is cut, and two types are mostly famous:
armchair GNRs and zigzag GNRs. Zigzag GNRs
do not support plasmon oscillations because those
are damped by surface states. Armchair GNRs can
be either metallic or insulating depending on their
width. We consider in this paper metallic armchair
GNRs.
NEMS 2012, Kyoto, JAPAN, March 5-8,2012
 5
X 10
II. GRAPHENE NANORIBBON DIELECTRIC 10

FUNCTION
8
We assume in this paper that the GNR is confined
Wlao
in the x direction and charge density oscillations 6
0 -25
ro
occur in the y direction. The confinement of the two S -28

dimensional graphene in one direction results in the 4 -31

-34
quantization of energy states, with energies [79] -37

(1)
��--�-
0.1 0.2 0.3 ---�--�
0.4
qW
where ao is the graphene lattice constant, s -1 =

for a valence band and s 1 for a conduction band.

=
Fig. 1. Dispersion relation for an armchair GNR with various widths.
The index n labels the subband and kn is given by
27rn 27r
kn-
_

+ (2) theorem to get the imaginary part and the Kramers­

2W + ao
-

3ao Kronig relations to obtain the real part of the

where W is the GNR width. The dielectric function integral.
can be described by means of a tensor whose entries We used complex frequencies to account for
are given as [79] scattering by two main mechanisms, scattering of
electrons in graphene and scattering due to edge
Eijmn(q,w) = 6im6jn - Vijmn(q)IIm,n(q,w) (3)
roughness. For the electron scattering, we used a
The matrix elements of the coulomb interaction are scattering time of O.5ps while for the edge rough­
ness we used [80]
Vijmn = 11 du 11 du'cos[7r(i - j)U] T(E)-
nW2 1 + 4k2A2
y 1
(7)
2 2 - 7rE� H2 A p(E)(1 + COSekk,)
cos[7r(m - n)u,] e Ko(qWlu - u' IQ4)
Eo where p(E) is the density of states, H is the
amplitude of edge roughness, and A is the corre­
where e is the electronic charge, Eo is the average of
lation length of roughness. The dispersion relation
the dielectric constants of the media surrounding the
is obtained by setting the determinent of the tensor
GNR, and Ko is the zeroth-order modified Bessel
in 5, and is shown in figure 1 for an armchair GNR
function of the second kind. The dielectric function
with various widths. The dispersion curve moves to
of GNRs can be approximated by
the right as the GNR width increases. This means
E = 1 - vo,o L Xn (5) that the plasmon wavevector at a given frequency
n increases as the width of the GNR increases. Figure
2 shows the propagation length of an armchair
where
GNR for various GNR widths. The propagation
!!.!... 2/:}.n(ky,q) length decreases as the width of the GNR increases.
Ly L (nw + i6)2 - (/:}.n(ky,q))2
Xn
ky Typically, there is a tradeoff between propagation
length and confinement in the waveguide. This
Fn-,n+(ky,ky + q) (6)
behavior is shown in figure 3, which shows the
where gs is the spin degeneracy (2), /:}.n(ky,q) = imaginary part of the wavevector perpendiculat to
IEn(ky + q) I + IEn(ky) I and Fn-,n+(ky,ky + q) = the graphene sheet versus frequency for a GNR
�(1 - cose). We note here that the sum over with various widths. This quantity measures for the
wavevectors is in fact an integral, and the 6 is added decay of fields away from the GNR (z direction); the
for the integration to convergence. The integration is higher Imag(kz), the more confined is the wave on
evaluated as 6 -+ 0 using the Sokhatsky-Weierstrass the GNR surface. Figure 3 shows that as the GNR

624 24,2023 at 11:16:04 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.

Authorized licensed use limited to: KAUST. Downloaded on December
 3500 [3] --, "Multi-level Approach for Integrated Spiral Inductor Optimiza­
tion," IEEE DAC, 2005.
-;0
3000 [4] A. Nieuwoudt, T Ragheb, and Y. Massoud, "SOC-NLNA: synthesis
'0
.!!l --25 and optimization for fully integrated narrow-band CMOS low noise
'" --28 amplifiers," IEEE DAC, 2006.
2500
2- --31
.s::; [5] A. Nieuwoudt and Y. Massoud, "Robust automated synthesis method­
C, --34 ology for integrated spiral inductors with variability," IEEE ICCAD,
c: 2000
'" --37 2005.
...J
c: [6] A. Nieuwoudt, M. McCorquodale, R. Borno, and Y. Massoud, "Efficient
.2 1500
iO analytical modeling techniques for rapid integrated spiral inductor
'"
co prototyping," IEEE CICC, 2005.
Q.
1000 [7] T Ragheb, S. Kirolos, J. Laska, M. Strauss, A. Gilbert, R. Baraniuk,
e
"-
and Y. Massoud, "Implementation models for analog-to-information
500 conversion via random sampling," IEEE MWSCAS, 2007.
0 2 4 6 8 10
[8] A. Nieuwoudt, M. McCorquodale, R. Borno, and Y. Massoud, "Accu­
wlaO (rd/s) 5
X 10 rate analytical spiral inductor modeling techniques for efficient design
space exploration," IEEE EDL, December 2006.
Fig. 2. Propagation length of an armchair GNR vs. frequency for [9] A. Nieuwoudt and Y. Massoud, "Analytical wide-band modeling of high
frequency resistance in integrated spiral inductors," Analog Integrated
various GNR widths
Circuits and Signal Processing, February 2007.
[10] S. Kirolos, T Ragheb, J. Laska, M. Duarte, Y. Massoud, and R. Bara­
niuk, "Practical Issues in Implementing Analog-to-Information Con­
0.35 ,------�--___,
verters," IEEE IWSOC, 2006.
Wlao [II] A. Nieuwoudt and Y. Massoud, "Efficient modeling of substrate eddy
0.3
--25 currents for integrated spiral inductor design automation," IEEE MWS­
0.25 --28 CAS, 2005.
--31 [12] T Ragheb, A. Nieuwoudt, and Y. Massoud, "Efficient modeling of inte­
.!l!.:
"'"
0.2 -- 34 grated narrow-band low noise amplifiers for design space exploration,"
0; --37 IEEE GLSVLSI, 2006.
§ 0.15 [13] A. Nieuwoudt, T Ragheb, and Y. Massoud, "Hierarchical optimization
methodology for wideband low noise amplifiers," IEEE ASP-DAC,
0.1
2007.
[14] T Ragheb, 1. N. Laska, H. Nejati, S. Kirolos, R. G. Baraniuk, and
0.05
Y. Massoud, "A prototype hardware for random demodulation based
compressive analog-to-digital conversion," IEEE MWSCAS, 2008.
2 4 6 8 10 [15] A. Nieuwoudt, T Ragheb, H. Nejati, and Y. Massoud, "Increasing
X 105 manufacturing yield for wideband RF CMOS LNAs in the presence
of process variations," IEEE ISQED, 2007.
[16] --, "Numerical design optimization methodology for wideband and
Fig. 3. Imaginary part of the wavevector perpendiculat to the
multi-band inductively degenerated cascode CMOS low noise ampli­
graphene sheet versus frequency. fiers," IEEE TCAS I, June 2009.
[17] T Ragheb, A. Nieuwoudt, and Y. Massoud, "Modeling of 3.1-10.6
GHz CMOS Filter-Based Low Noise Amplifier for Ultra-Wideband
Receivers," IEEE WAMICON, 2006.
width increases, the confinement of the wave on the [18] H. Najati, T Ragheb, A. Nieuwoudt, and Y. Massoud, "Modeling
and design of ultrawideband low noise amplifiers with generalized
GNR surface increases. Thus, as the GNR width impedance matching networks," IEEE ISCAS, 2007.
increases, the propagation length decreases but the [19] A. Nieuwoudt and Y. Massoud, "Optimizing the Design of Tunable
Spiral Inductors for On-Chip Wireless Applications," IEEE WAMICON,
confinement increases. 2006.
[20] H. Nejati, T Ragheb, A. Nieuwoudt, and Y. Massoud, "Analytical
modeling methodology for ultrawideband low noise amplifiers with
III. CONCLUSION generalized filter-based impedance matching," Analog Integrated Cir­
cuits and Signal Processing, May 2007.
Graphene plasmonics is an emerging field that [21] A. Nieuwoudt, T Ragheb, and Y. Massoud, "Systematic Design Opti­
combines the power of plasmon oscillations with mization Methodology for Multi-Band CMOS Low Noise Amplifiers,"
IEEE ISVLSI, 2007.
the excellent properties of graphene. In this paper [22] H. Nejati, T Ragheb, and Y. Massoud, "On the design of customizable
we investigated the propagation length of plasmons low-voltage common-gate LNA-mixer pair using current and charge
reusing techniques," IEEE GLSVLSI, 2008.
on graphene nanoribbons, which is one of the most [23] S. Pfetsch, T Ragheb, J. Laska, H. Nejati, A. Gilbert, M. Strauss,
R. Baraniuk, and Y. Massoud, "On the Feasibility of Hardware
important properties of waveguiding structures. The
Implementation of Sub-Nyquist Random-Sampling Based Analog-to­
results show that GNRs support propagation lengths Information Conversion," IEEE ISCAS, 2008.
[24] Y. Massoud, A. Nieuwoudt, and T Ragheb, "Automated design so­
much alrger than the dimensions of the GNR. lutions for fully integrated narrow-band low noise amplifiers," IEEE
IWSOC, 2006.
REFERENCES [25] A. Nieuwoudt and Y. Massoud, "Design optimization of switchable
mUlti-port spiral inductors," Springer ALOG, June 2007.
[I] A. Geim and K. Novoselov, "The Rise of Graphene," Nature Materials,
[26] M. A. Y. Massoud and A. Nieuwoudt, "On the Selection of Spectral
voL 6, 2007.
Zeros for Generating Passive Reduced Order Models," IEEE IWSOC,
[2] A. Nieuwoudt and Y. Massoud, "Variability-aware multilevel integrated
2006.
spiral inductor synthesis," IEEE TCAD, Dec. 2006.

625 24,2023 at 11:16:04 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.

Authorized licensed use limited to: KAUST. Downloaded on December
[27] H. Nejati, T. Ragheb, and Y Massoud, "Analytical Modeling of
Common-Gate Low Noise Amplifiers," IEEE MWSCAS, 2008.
[28] A. Hossieni, A. Nieuwoudt, and Y Massoud, "Efficient simulation
of subwavelength plasmonic waveguides using implicitly restarted
Arnoldi," Optics Express, August 2006.
[29] M. Alam and Y Massoud, "A closed-form analytical model for single
nanoshells," IEEE TNANO, May 2006.
[30] -- , "RLC ladder model for scattering in single metallic nanoparti­
cles," IEEE MTT-S, 2006.
[31] A. Hossieni, H. Nejati, and Y Massoud, "Design of a maximally flat
optical low pass filter using plasmonic nanostrip waveguides," Optics
Express, November 2007.
[32] M. Alam and Y Massoud, "An accurate closed-form analytical model
of single nanoshells for cancer treatment," IEEE MWSCAS, 200S.
[33] A. Hossieni and Y Massoud, "Optical range microcavities and filters
using multiple dielectric layers in metal-insulator-metal structures,"
Journal of the Optical Society of America A, January 2007.
[34] M. Alam and Y Massoud, "An RLC ladder model for the equivalent
impedance of single metal nanoparticles in electromagnetic field," IEEE
Transactions on Nanotechnology (TNANO), September 2006.
[3S] Y Massoud, S. Majors, T. Bustami, and J. Whites, " techniques for
minimizing on-chip interconnect self-inductance," IEEE DAC, 1998.
[36] D. M. Y Massoud, J. Kawa and J. White, "Modeling and Analysis
of Differential Signaling for Minimizing Inductive Cross-Talk," IEEE
DAC, 2001.
[37] A. Nieuwoudt and Y Massoud, "Evaluating the Impact of Resistance
in Carbon Nanotube Bundles for VLSI Interconnect using Diameter­
Dependent Modeling Techniques," IEEE TED, October 2006.
[38] "Modeling and Design Challenges and Solutions for Carbon Nanotube­
Based Interconnect in Future High Performance Integrated Circuis,"
ACM JETC, July 2006.
[39] Y Massoud and J. White, "Managing On-Chip Inductive Effects," IEEE
TVLSI, Dec. 2002.
[40] A. Nieuwoudt and Y Massoud, "Understanding the impact of induc­
tance in carbon nanotube bundles for VLSI interconnect using scalable
modeling techniques," IEEE TNANO), Nov. 2006.
[41] Y Massoud and Y Ismail, "Grasping the Impact of On-Chip Inductance
in High Speed ICs," IEEE Circuits and Devices Magazine, July 2001.
[42] A. Nieuwoudt and Y Massoud, "On the impact of process variations
for carbon nanotube bundles for VLSI interconnect," IEEE TED, March
2007.
[43] -- , "Assessing the implications of process variations on future carbon
nanotube bundle interconnect solutions," IEEE ISQED, 2007.
[44] M. Mondal, A. Ricketts, S. Kirolos, T. Ragheb, V. N. G. Link, and
Y Massoud, "Thermally robust clocking schemes for 3D integrated
circuits," IEEE DATE, 2006.
[4S] M. Mondal and Y Massoud, "Reducing pessimism in RLC delay
estimation using an accurate analytical frequency dependent model for
inductance," IEEE ICCAD, November 2005.
[46] S. Kim, Y Massoud, , and S. Wong, "On the Accuracy of Return Path
Assumption for Loop Inductance Extraction for 0.1 um Technology and
Beyond," IEEE ISQED, 2003.
[47] S. Eachempati, A. Nieuwoudt, A. Gayasen, V. Narayanan, and Y Mas­
soud, "Assessing carbon nanotube bundle interconnect for future FPGA
architectures," IEEE DATE, 2007.
[48] Y Massoud and J. White, "Simulation and Modeling of the Effect
Substrate Conductivity on Coupling Inductance and Circuit Crosstalk,"
IEEE TVLSI, June 2002.
[49] A. Nieuwoudt and Y Massoud, "On the optimal design, performance,
and reliability of future carbon nanotube-based interconnect solutions,"
IEEE TED, August 2008.
[SO] -- , "Accurate resistance modeling for carbon nanotube bundles in
VLSI interconnect," IEEE Nano, 2006.
[SI] A. Nieuwoudt, M. Mondal, and Y Massoud, "Predicting the Per­
formance and Reliability of Carbon Nanotube Bundles for On-Chip
Interconnect," IEEE ASP-DAC, 2007.
[S2] A. Nieuwoudt and Y Massoud, "Performance implications of inductive
effects for carbon-nanotube bundle interconnect," IEEE EDL, April
2007.
[53] A.Nieuwoudt and YMassoud, "Predicting the performance of low-loss
on-chip inductors realized using carbon nanotube bundles," IEEE TED,
January 2008.
626 24,2023 at 11:16:04 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
Authorized licensed use limited to: KAUST. Downloaded on December
[54] M. Mondal, T. Ragheb, X. Wu, A. Aziz, and Y Massoud, "Provisioning
on-chip networks under buffered rc interconnect delay variations,"
ISQED, 2007.
[55] A. Hosseini, T. Ragheb, and Y Massoud, "A fault-aware dynamic
routing algorithm for on-chip networks," IEEE ISCAS, 2008.
[56] Y Massoud and J. White, "Improving the generality of the fictitious
magnetic charge approach to computing inductances in the presence of
permeable materials," IEEE DAC, 2002.
[57] A. Nieuwoudt and Y Massoud, "RC circuit model for multi-walled
carbon nanotubes," IEEE Nano, 2007.
[58] Q. Su, J. Kawa, C. Chiang, and Y Massoud, "Accurate modeling of
substrate resistive coupling for floating substrates," ACM TODAES,
January 2006.
[59] M. Mondal, A. Ricketts, S. Kirolos, T. Ragheb, G. Link, V. Narayanan,
and Y Massoud, "Mitigating thermal effects on clock skew with
dynamically adaptive drivers," IEEE ISQED, 2007.
[60] M. Alam, A. Nieuwoudt, and Y Massoud, "Wavelet-based passivity
preserving model order reduction for wideband interconnect character­
ization," IEEE ISQED, 2007.
[61] M. Mondal, K. Mohanram, and Y Massoud, "Parameter-Variation­
Aware Analysis for Noise Robustness," IEEE ISQED, 2007.
[62] Y Massoud, J. Wang, and J. White, "Accurate inductance extraction
with permeable materials using qualocation," International Conf. on
Modeling and Simulation of Microsystems, 1999.
[63] S. Kirolos and Y Massoud, "Adaptive Ratio-Size Gates for Minimum­
Energy Operation," IEEE TCAS lJ, November 2006.
[64] S. Kirolos, Y Massoud, and Y Ismail, "Power-supply-variation-aware
timing analysis of synchronous systems," IEEE ISCAS, 2008.
[6S] -- , "Accurate analytical delay modeling of cmos clock buffers
considering power supply variations;' IEEE ISCAS, 2008.
[66] S. Kirolos and Y Massoud, "Adaptive SRAM Design for Dynamic
Voltage Scaling VLSI Systems," IEEE MWSCAS, 2007.
[67] X. Wu, T. Ragheb, A. Aziz, and Y Massoud, "Implementing DSP
algorithms with on-chip networks," IEEE NOC, 2007.
[68] M. Alam, A. Nieuwoudt, and Y Massoud, "Model order reduction using
spline-based dynamic multi-point rational interpolation for passive
circuits," Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing, March
2007.
[69] M. Mondal and Y Massoud, "Analytical Modeling of Loop Self
Inductance Bound for Inductance-Aware Physical Synthesis," IEEE
ISCAS, 2005.
[70] Y Massoud and J. White, "Fast Inductance Extraction of 3-D Struc­
tures with Non-ConstantPermeabilities," International Conference on
Modeling and Simulation of Microsystems, pp. 190-193, April 1998.
[71] M. Mondal and Y Massoud, "Estimation of capacitive crosstalk­
induced short-circuit energy," JCSC, June 2007.
[72] Y Massoud and J. White, "FastMag: a 3-D Fast Inductance Extraction
Program for Structures with Permeable materials," IEEE ICCAD, 2002.
[73] S. Kirolos and Y Massoud, "Supply Voltage Adaptive Low-Power
Circuit Design," IEEE DCAS, 2006.
[74] . M. Modal and Y Massoud, "Accurate loop self inductance bound for
efficient inductance screening," IEEE TVLSI, December 2006.
[7S] S. Kirolos and Y Massoud, "Robust Wide Range of Supply-Voltage
Operation using Continuous Adaptive Size-Ratio Gates," IEEE ISCAS,
2008.
[76] Y Massoud, S. Kirolos, and K. Mohanram, "Analytical model-based
technique for efficient evaluation of noise robustness considering pa­
rameter variations," Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing,
August 2009.
[77] S. Kirolos, M. Mondal, K. Mohanram, and Y Massoud, "A Model­
Based Technique for Efficient Evaluation of Noise Robustness," IEEE
ISCAS, 2008.
[78] S. Kirolos, Y Massoud, and Y Ismail, "Mitigating Power-Supply
Induced Delay Variations using Self Adjusting Clock Buffers," IEEE
MWSCAS, 2008.
[79] L. Brey and H. Fertig, "Elementary electronic excitations in graphene
nanoribbons," Phys. Rev. B, vol. 7S, 2007.
[80] T. Fang, A. Konar, H. Xing, and D. Jena, "Mobility in semiconducting
graphene nanoribbons: Phonon, impurity, and edge roughness scatter­
ing," Phys. Rev. B, vol. 78, 2008.