Effect of synergistic CeO2/MoS2 abrasives on surface roughness and material removal rate of quartz glass

Abstract

Cerium oxide (CeO2) is a primary abrasive frequently used in quartz glass polishing slurry for facilitating glass surface planarisation. However, due to its exorbitant synthesis costs and extremely corrosive as well as toxic reagents in the system, the chemical modification of CeO2 abrasives have limited practical applications. In this work, a novel chemical mechanical polishing slurry for quartz glass incorporating potassium oleate (KOL), deionised water (DIW), cerium dioxide and molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) was developed in this paper to enhance the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) performance of CeO2-based polishing slurry. KOL creates an alkaline environment for the system, further develops silicate insoluble substances on the quartz glass surface and boosts the material removal rate (MRR) in CMP. MoS2 exhibits a two-dimensional layered nanosheet structure between the abrasive and quartz glass, and then acts as a solid lubricant to prevent excessive mechanical damage, thus increasing the abrasive's wettability. This characteristic helps avoid scratches and other defects on the quartz glass surface. Notably, when the content of KOL and MoS2 in the system is 0.2 wt% and 0.3 wt%, respectively, the surface roughness of the quartz glass surface is 0.48 nm under the scanning area of 15 × 15 μm2 and the MRR is 24.03 μm/h following CMP. The synergistic interaction between CeO2 and MoS2 significantly enhances the abrasive performance on the glass substrate, offering a novel approach for developing polishing fluids that leverage the collaborative effects between abrasives and two-dimensional materials.