Theory for the electromigration wind force in dilute alloys

TL;DR

This paper develops a multiple scattering theoretical framework to understand electromigration wind forces in dilute alloys, focusing on vacancy mechanisms and calculating wind valences across various metals.

Contribution

It introduces a novel multiple scattering formulation for electromigration wind forces, applicable to dilute alloys with a vacancy mechanism, and provides calculated wind valences for several metals.

Findings

Self-electromigration results for aluminum and noble metals align with experimental data.

Small wind valences are found in 4d transition metals, suggesting their suitability for studying direct valence.

The theory offers a new approach to understanding electromigration in dilute alloys.

Abstract

A multiple scattering formulation for the electromigration wind force on atoms in dilute alloys is developed. The theory describes electromigration via a vacancy mechanism. The method is used to calculate the wind valence for electromigration in various host metals having a close-packed lattice structure, namely aluminum, the noble metals copper, silver and gold and the $4d$ transition metals. The self-electromigration results for aluminum and the noble metals compare well with experimental data. For the $4d$ metals small wind valences are found, which make these metals attractive candidates for the experimental study of the direct valence.