Observation of electromigration in a Cu thin line by in situ coherent x-ray diffraction microscopy

Electromigration (EM) in a 1-mu m-thick Cu thin line was investigated by in situ coherent x-ray diffraction microscopy (CXDM). Characteristic x-ray speckle patterns due to both EM-induced voids and thermal deformation in the thin line were observed in the coherent x-ray diffraction patterns. Both parts of the voids and the deformation were successfully visualized in the images reconstructed from the diffraction patterns. This result not only represents the first demonstration of the visualization of structural changes in metallic materials by in situ CXDM but is also an important step toward studying the structural dynamics of nanomaterials using x-ray free-electron lasers in the near future. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3151855]