from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
electromigration
<electronics> Mass transport due to momentum exchange between
conducting electrons and diffusing metal atoms.
Electromigration causes progressive damage to the metal
conductors in an {integrated circuit}. It is characteristic
of metals at very high current density and temperatures of
100C or more.
The term was coined by Professor Hilbert Huntington in the
late 1950s because he didn't like the German use of the word
"electrotransport".
Mass transoport occurs via the Einstein relation J=DFC/kT
where F is the driving force for the transoport. For
electromigraiton F is z*epj and z* is an electromigration
parameter relating the momentum exchange and z is the charge
of the "diffusing" species.
(1999-02-25)