When two surfaces are brought together, contact occurs initially between asperities on the surface. If the mechanical loads are small, complete contact is never achieved and the behavior is dominated by asperity contact. The contact area and asperity morphology may evolve in time as a result of mechanical and capillarity (surface tension) effects, mediated by plastic deformation and/or diffusion. If a current passes through the contact, as in the case of micro-electro-mechanical switches, the evolution may be controlled by electromigration. This effect may be especially important if the voltage drop across the contact is fixed and the fractional contact area is small, such that the current is concentrated in a small number of contacts (see Fig. 1). Electromigration occurs as a result of the voltage driven electrons scattering off and imparting momentum to the atoms in the solid (see Fig. 2). Typically, the electromigration atom flux is opposite the direction of the electrical current (i.e., in the same direction as the electron flux). At small homologous temperatures (i.e., the temperature normalized by the melting temperature) and in small structures (such as asperities), atomic transport will be dominated by surface, rather than bulk, diffusion. In this presentation, we consider the evolution of an idealized asperity under the action of both capillarity and electromigration.
Skip Nav Destination
ASME/STLE 2004 International Joint Tribology Conference
October 24–27, 2004
Long Beach, California, USA
Conference Sponsors:
- Tribology Division
ISBN:
0-7918-4181-2
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Asperity Contact Evolution: Capillarity and Electromigration Effects
Ji-Hee Kim,
Ji-Hee Kim
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Search for other works by this author on:
Pil-Ryung Cha,
Pil-Ryung Cha
Kookmin University, Seoul, Korea
Search for other works by this author on:
David J. Srolovitz
David J. Srolovitz
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Search for other works by this author on:
Ji-Hee Kim
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Pil-Ryung Cha
Kookmin University, Seoul, Korea
David J. Srolovitz
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Paper No:
TRIB2004-64336, pp. 33-35; 3 pages
Published Online:
December 22, 2008
Citation
Kim, J, Cha, P, & Srolovitz, DJ. "Asperity Contact Evolution: Capillarity and Electromigration Effects." Proceedings of the ASME/STLE 2004 International Joint Tribology Conference. ASME/STLE 2004 International Joint Tribology Conference, Parts A and B. Long Beach, California, USA. October 24–27, 2004. pp. 33-35. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/TRIB2004-64336
Download citation file:
3
Views
Related Proceedings Papers
Heat Transfer in Nanoelectronics by Quantum Mechanics
InterPACK2013
Related Articles
Evaluation of the Dominant Factor for Electromigration in Sputtered High Purity Al Films
J. Electron. Packag (June,2010)
Coupled Multifield Finite Element Analysis Model of Upsetting Under an Applied Direct Current
J. Manuf. Sci. Eng (June,2009)
Sub-Continuum Simulations of Heat Conduction in Silicon-on-Insulator Transistors
J. Heat Transfer (February,2001)
Related Chapters
Scattering of Out-Plane Line Source Load by a Shallow-Embedded Circular Lining Structure and the Ground Motion
Geological Engineering: Proceedings of the 1 st International Conference (ICGE 2007)
Study on Load Position Switching of Radial Scattering Dispenser
International Conference on Mechanical Engineering and Technology (ICMET-London 2011)
The MCRT Method for Participating Media
The Monte Carlo Ray-Trace Method in Radiation Heat Transfer and Applied Optics