The nature of mechanically polished surfaces of copper: Polishing with fine diamond abrasives

Abstract

Surfaces of copper polished with 0.1 μm size diamond abrasive were examined by transmission electron microscopy. There was no evidence of an amorphous layer of the type known as the Beilby layer; the surfaces were crystalline and showed evidence of plastic deformation. Slab-shaped cells were present at the surface, and appear to correspond to the low strain microbands that have been observed in copper cold-rolled to small reductions. From comparison with previous results it was apparent that there was a progressive reduction in the maximum surface strain and depth of the strained layer as the size of the diamond abrasive decreased from 6 μm to 1 μm to 0.1 μm.