Temperature Modeling for Carbon Nanofiber Breakdown

Carbon nanofibers (CNF) are proposed for electrical interconnect applications because of their relatively large current capacity and ability to form well-aligned one-dimensional structures. It is experimentally determined that nanofibers that are suspended between two electrodes breakdown at or near the nanofiber center. Based on published property values a simple model is used to calculate the temperature and quantify the effect of heat generation at the CNF/electrode interface on the nanofiber temperature. The model has the capability to separately account for the substrate temperature and the temperature at the CNF/electrode junction. It is determined that the CNF reaches a temperature at which carbon oxidation is likely to occur.