
Departmental Papers (MSE)
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
February 2008
Abstract
We present real-time transmission electron microscopy of nanogap formation by feedback controlled electromigration that reveals a remarkable degree of crystalline order. Crystal facets appear during feedback controlled electromigration indicating a layer-by-layer, highly reproducible electromigration process avoiding thermal runaway and melting. These measurements provide insight into the electromigration induced failure mechanism in sub-20 nm size interconnects, indicating that the current density at failure increases as the width decreases to approximately 1 nm.
Keywords
molecular electronic devices, electronic structure of nanoscale materials, electrical properties of metal-to-metal contacts, nanoscale contacts (electronic transpor
Date Posted: 20 March 2008
This document has been peer reviewed.

Comments
Copyright American Physical Society. Reprinted from Physical Review Letters, Volume 100, Issue 3, Article 056805, February 2008, 4 pages.
Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.056805