A Sharp Interface Model of Intermediate-Phase Growth Under the Influence of Electromigration

A sharp interface model has been developed to model intermediate-phase growth under the influence of electromigration in a binary system. Simulation results show that the phase growth rate depends on both the magnitude and the direction of the applied current. With the current density fixed, at early times, there is a parabolic growth behavior for the intermediate phase, while at longer times, there is a linear phase growth behavior when the electron flow aids diffusion of atoms; however, a limiting thickness is found when the electron flow hinders diffusion. Qualitative analysis shows that the longer time behavior also holds in a binary system with multiple intermediate phases present.