The evolution of the microstructure of thin film lines during electromigration was studied by means of transmission electron microscopy. Grain boundary migration was found to be critically involved in electromigration-induced hillock formation. The latter could be described in terms of the 3-dimensional growth of a single grain.

A.Gladkikh, Y.Lereah, E.Glickman, M.Karpovski, A.Palevski, J.Schubert: Applied Physics Letters, 1995, 66[10], 1214-5