Current density effects on the microstructure of zirconium thin films

Z Islam and BM Wang and A Haque, SCRIPTA MATERIALIA, 144, 18-21 (2018).

DOI: 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2017.09.032

We investigate the effect of electrical current density below the electromigration failure limit in nanocrystalline zirconium thin films using in-situ Transmission Electron Microscope and molecular dynamics simulation. At least one order of magnitude higher growth was seen at current density of 8.5 x 10(5) A/cm(2) (Joule heating temperature 710 K) in 15 min compared to conventional thermal annealing at 873 K for 360 min. Simulation results support our hypothesis that the concurrent effects of electron wind force and Joule heating specifically target the grain boundaries, producing much higher grain boundary mobility compared to high temperature annealing alone. (C) 2017 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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