Electromigration in Gold Films on Flexible Polyimide Substrates as a Self-healing Mechanism.

The study of electromigration (EM) in metallisations for flexible thin film systems has not been a major concern due to low applied current densities in today's flexible electronic devices. However, the trend towards smaller and more powerful devices demands increasing current densities for future applications, making EM a reliability matter. This work investigates EM in 50 nm Au thin films with a 10 nm Cr adhesion layer on a flexible polyimide substrate at high current densities. Results indicate that EM does occur and could be used as a self-healing mechanism for flexible electronics.