Abstract
Electromigration experiments have been carried out on aluminum thin films which have been deposited on oxide-free (111) silicon by employing the ‘‘ionized cluster beam’’ technique as well as other related deposition methods. It has been found that the same high electromigration resistance and film structure is obtained with or without utilizing a nozzled crucible and with or without applying ionization and acceleration voltages during deposition. The conclusions are supported by electromigration lifetime measurements, scanning electron micrographs, optical micrographs, reflective high-energy electron diffraction, and x-ray diffraction.