The Removal Mechanism of Monocrystalline Si in the Process of Double Diamond Abrasive Polishing by Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Abstract

In order to clarify the mechanism of polishing of double diamond abrasive particles, in this study, the mechanism of material removal and the evolution of single crystal Si workpiece surface under the three-body polishing condition were investigated. The effect of the depth of polishing and the transverse/longitudinal spacing of the double abrasive grains on the three-body polishing were examined. The purpose is to reveal the phase transition, surface morphology, surface damage, material removal rate, temperature, potential energy, and friction force for polishing Si wafer. The analysis of coordination number clarified that the number of phase transition atoms by polishing and abrasion increased with increasing polishing depth and transverse distance of the nanoparticles on the Si work surface, but not especially obvious with increasing longitudinal spacing. Temperature analysis shows that when the polishing depth is 1 nm, the polishing temperature is 456 K, while when the polishing depth is 3 nm, the polishing temperature is 733 K. The temperature difference between the longitudinal group and the transverse group is only 30–40 K. The larger the transverse abrasive grain spacing or the smaller the polishing depth, the smaller the surface roughness; however, the longitudinal abrasive grain spacing has no obvious correlation with the surface roughness.