Reducing Grain-Boundary Resistivity of Copper Nanowires by Doping

Grain-boundary scattering becomes a significant contribution to resistivity as copper interconnects are reduced to the nanoscale, presenting a major challenge to the scaling of modern electronics. Using a fully atomistic first-principles method, the authors study grain boundaries doped with other elements in a wide range of concentrations, and in certain cases see diminished resistivity compared to pristine boundaries. This suggests grain-boundary doping as a means to improve copper nanotechnology.