A Critical Review on the Electromigration Effect, the Electroplastic Effect, and Perspectives on the Effects of Electric Current Upon Alloy Phase Stability

The electronic interconnections in the state-of-the-art integrated circuit manufacturing have been scaled down to the micron or sub-micron scale. This results in a dramatic increase in the current density passing through interconnections, which means that the electromigration (EM) effect plays a significant role in the reliability of products. Although thorough studies and reviews of EM effects have been continuously conducted in the past 60 years, some parts of EM theories lack clear elucidation of the electric current-induced non-directional effects, including electric current-induced phase equilibrium changes. This review article is intended to provide a broad picture of electric current-induced lattice stability changes and to summarize the existing literature on EM-related phenomena, EM-related theoretical models, and relevant effects of the electroplastic (EP) effect in order to lead to a better understanding of electric current-induced effects on materials. This article also posits that EM is either part of the EP effect or shares the intrinsic electric current-induced plastic deformation associated with the EP effect. This concept appears to contribute to the missing parts of the EM theories.