Matter transport in pure gold induced by high direct current densities

In a new investigation the temperature dependence of electromigration in gold was measured by applying an improved tracer method. The results are in good agreement with those of Gilder and Lazarus. In the temperature range between 1137K and 1235K the effective charge varies from ?7.7 e to ?6.7 e. However, the linear relation betweenz _eff and 1/?, predicted from theory, could not be confirmed unequivocally. The activation enthalpy of electromigration,Q _E =42.3±1.1 kcal/mole, is practically identical to that for self-diffusion. A temperature independent value was found for the residual resistivity of the thermally activated ion-vacancy complexes, ? _d =1.76 µΩ cm/at-%, which is close to the residual resistivity of vacancies in gold. In addition, our earlier investigations are reviewed, in which electromigration in gold was measured using a marker method and a tracer method simultaneously. The results are critically examined in connexion with a theory proposed by Guy.