Fluent simulation and experimental analysis of polished surface topography of single crystal germanium

Abstract

Single crystal germanium has good physical and chemical properties but it is hard to be processed. Some researchers thought the flowing effort has no effect on the removal of test-piece surface material during the polishing process. This paper had built a flow-path simulation model and used Fluent to simulate the polishing process and designed experiment to analyse the polishing process. It was found in experimental results that, during the polishing process two-phase flow could smooth the surface of single crystal germanium, but it could also cause the edge surface material uneven removal on the test-piece, moreover, the uneven degree on both sides of polished test-piece were different, the roughness on middle part of test-piece was smaller than edge sides. Meanwhile, the residual stress was mainly caused by abrasive material properties and other conditions. The conclusion mentioned above were consisted with the simulation results, which proved the correctness of simulation model and assumptions, and the flowing effect of polishing liquid had effect on the removal of surface material. The paper provides a new research thought on two phrase flow polishing.