Micromachined structures decoupling Joule heating and electron wind force

Microstructural changes in conductive materials induced by electric current treatments, such as electromigration and electroplasticity, are critical in semiconductor and metal processing. However, owing to the inevitable thermal effect (Joule heating), the athermal effect on microstructural modifications remains obscure. This paper presents an approach of utilizing pre-micromachined structures, which obstruct current flow but maintain a thermal history similar to that of the matrix, effectively disentangling the thermal and athermal effects. A duplex stainless-steel material is selected to validate the feasibility of this method. Microstructural characterizations show that the athermal effect, especially the electron wind force (EWF), primarily governs the element diffusion and phase transformation in this study. Moreover, many σ phases (Cr-enriched) are precipitated in the micromachined structures, whereas no precipitation occurred in the matrix, suggesting that the directional EWF disrupts the Cr aggregation caused by Joule heating. Furthermore, we present a critical formula for determining the dimensions of micromachined structures of commonly used metallic materials. The proposed method may serve as an effective and powerful tool for unveiling the athermal effect on microstructural alterations.