In situ transmission electron microscopy investigations of electromigration in metals

Electromigration is a process in which a metallic contact line is thinned by passing a current through it; which occurs due to a gradual displacement of atoms, ultimately leading to destruction of the wire. Despite the active investigations on electromigration for over fifty years, until now there is no general theory of the process and many...

In situ TEM and STEM studies of reversible electromigration in thin palladium–platinum bridges

We investigated the reversible electromigration in Pd–Pt nanobridges by means of in situ electron microscopy. Real-time nanometer-scale imaging with scanning transmission electron microscopy was used to determine the material transport. For high current densities (3–5 × 107 A cm?2), material transport occurs from the cathode towards the anode...