Microscopic theory of the driving force in electromigration

Kumar and Sorbello have expressed the effective force on an ion in electromigration in terms of a response function, which is evaluated here by the method of quantum field theory. Formulas for the force are derived for the jellium model and for a crystal lattice. Some physical insight can be gained by viewing previous works on this subject through this particular perspective. © 1975 The American Physical Society.