Atomic Migration on't look now, but strange things may be happening deep within your computer's microcircuits, as atomic-scale hills and valleys grow on the thin metal conductors used to carry electronic information. Known as solid-state electromigration, this microscopic construction activity causes premature failure in electronic crevices. As circuit designers shrink the size of electronic components to crowd more and more of them onto chips, electromigration becomes increasingly important. To help learn how to minimize failures caused by electromigration, a team of Georgia Tech scientists is using powerful microscopy techniques to study the growth of these hills and voids. Based on their research, the scientists believe that atoms are displaced by electromigration in much the same way they are moved during mechanical deformation.
Mechanical deformation occurs when malleable metals are stretched, bent or hammered.
The process causes enormous displacement of the atoms through activation of dislocation dynamics. Electromigration causes similar atomic displacement as high-density current moves atoms around in thin films. This similarity led the Tech team to undertake tests to confirm the correlation between electromigration and dislocation mechanisms. Armed with an understanding of the mechanisms involved in electromigration, the researchers hope to devise the best materials combinations to improve the reliability of electronic circuits. Radar Simulator adar researchers at Georgia Tech Research Institute have developed a computer simulation that assesses factors affecting radar performance and predicts how well a given system will work.