Stress relaxation in pulsed DC electromigration measurements

When a high current density is applied to a conductor, it activates several driving forces for mass transport that can lead to device failure, the most prominent of which is electromigration. However, there are other driving forces operating as well that can counteract or add to the effects of electromigration. A major driving force is a stress gradient that is developed as a response to electromigration in the presence of a blocking boundary condition. When the electrical stress is interrupted by pulsing DC measurements at low frequency, relaxation of the stress is observed through longer lifetime.