We investigate the histograms of conductance values obtained during controlled electromigration thinning of Cu thin films. We focus on the question whether the most frequently observed conductance values, apparent as peaks in conductance histograms, can be attributed to the atomic structure of the wire. To this end we calculate the Fourier transform of the conductance histograms. We find all the frequencies matching the highly symmetric crystallographic directions of fcc-Cu. In addition, there are other frequencies explainable by oxidation and possibly formation of hcp-Cu. With these structures we can explain all peaks occurring in the Fourier transform within the relevant range. The results remain the same if only a third of the samples are included. By comparing our results to the ones available in the literature on work-hardened nanowires we find indications that even at low temperatures of the environment, metallic nanocontacts could show enhanced electromigration at low current densities due to defects enhancing electron scattering.

We have studied controlled electromigration (EM) in free-standing copper wires. Besides electrical characterization by voltage-current measurements, structural analyses have been performed by means of scanning electron microscopy and cross-sectional microprobe measurements. We have found that oxidation during the EM in air stabilizes the free-standing wire against uncontrolled blowing, making it possible to thin the conductive part of the wire down to a conductance of a few conductance quanta G 0 ¼ 2e 2 =h. The decisive influence of oxidation by air on the EM process was confirmed by control experiments performed under ultra-high vacuum conditions. In line with these findings, free-standing Au wires were difficult to thin down reproducibly to a conductance of a few G 0. Estimates of the local temperature in the free-standing wire are obtained from finite element method calculations.

Electromigration in interconnects continues to be an important field of study in integrated circuits as the interconnects are planned to shrink in size at comparable pace as the semiconductor functional elements. Through shrinking the interconnects approach the regime where quantum size effects become important. The observation of quantum size and shell effects is usually restricted either to low-temperatures or vacuum conditions or to chemically inert materials such as Au. Here, we show that in electromigrated Cu nanocontacts such effects can be observed at room temperature and room pressure even in the presence of oxidation. Our data provide evidence that the nanocontacts are nearly spherical objects with a triangular-cylindrical symmetry of their electronic wave functions with a stronger free-electron-like character compared to previous results. We do not observe a detrimental effect of oxygen. The presence of shell effects has implications for the technological use of Cu nanocontacts as interconnects in integrated circuits and could lead to the use of electronic wave functions of shells in such interconnects.