Controlled material transport and multidimensional patterning at small length scales using electromigration

Talukder, Santanu and Kumar, Praveen and Pratap, Rudra (2015) Controlled material transport and multidimensional patterning at small length scales using electromigration. In: CURRENT SCIENCE, 108 (12). pp. 2167-2172.

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Abstract

Electromigration, mostly known for its damaging effects in microelectronic devices, is basically a material transport phenomenon driven by the electric field and kinetically controlled by diffusion. In this work, we show how controlled electromigration can be used to create scientifically interesting and technologically useful micro-/nano-scale patterns, which are otherwise extremely difficult to fabricate using conventional cleanroom practices, and present a few examples of such patterns. In a solid thin-film structure, electromigration is used to generate pores at preset locations for enhancing the sensitivity of a MEMS sensor. In addition to electromigration in solids, the flow instability associated with the electromigration-induced long-range flow of liquid metals is shown to form numerous structures with high surface area to volume ratio. In very thin solid films on non-conductive substrates, solidification of flow-affected region results in the formation of several features, such as nano-/micro-sized discrete metallic beads, 3D structures consisting of nano-stepped stairs, etc.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	CURRENT SCIENCE
Publisher:	INDIAN ACAD SCIENCES
Additional Information:	Copy right for this article belongs to the INDIAN ACAD SCIENCES, C V RAMAN AVENUE, SADASHIVANAGAR, P B #8005, BANGALORE 560 080, INDIA
Keywords:	Electromigration; fabrication and pattern formation; material transport; 3D micro-/nano-structures
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Materials Engineering (formerly Metallurgy)
Date Deposited:	31 Jul 2015 14:59
Last Modified:	31 Jul 2015 14:59
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/51993

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