Significant large‐scale modification of the surface of Al–Si conductors was observed, due to electromigration in wide lines and under low stress conditions. After electromigration stressing the Al layers showed local thickness variations, i.e., damage by thinning. The mechanism underlying this damage causes substantial metal transport. Nevertheless, damage by thinning has received little attention in the past. Thinning was observed: (1) in a number of different alloys (Al–Si, Al–Cu, Al–Si–V, and Al–Si–V–Pd), (2) with a number of different underlayers [SiO2, W–Ti (no vacuum break after Al deposition) and W–Ti (oxidized surface before Al deposition)], (3) over an extended temperature range, (4) over a range of current density, and (5) in structures with and without passivation. The results show that thinning is a general phenomenon. An activation energy of approximately 0.5 eV was determined for the temperature dependence of a combined mechanism of concurrent thinning plus voiding in Al99Si1. Several alternatives are examined to explain the observations, namely mass movement along dislocations, Al bulk diffusion, and diffusion at the interface between the Al and its oxide. It is shown that diffusion at the Al/Al oxide interface most probably plays an important role in the damage mechanism, even under stress conditions where grain boundary diffusion is traditionally thought to dominate. Results also showed that alloying of Al with Pd can reduce the effects of damage by thinning. ©1996 American Institute of Physics.