The Influence of Crystal Orientation on Subsurface Damage of Mono-Crystalline Silicon by Bound-Abrasive Grinding

Subsurface damage (SSD) produced in a grinding process will affect the performance and operational duration of single-crystal silicon. In order to reduce the subsurface damage depth generated during the grinding process by adjusting the process parameters (added), experiments were designed to investigate the influence of machining factors on SSD. This included crystal orientation, diamond grit size in the grinding wheel, peripheral speed of the grinding wheel, and feeding with the intention to optimize the parameters affecting SSD. Compared with isotropic materials such as glass, we considered the impact of grinding along different crystal directions <100> and <110> on subsurface damage depth (added). The Magnetorheological Finishing (MRF) spot technique was used to detect the depth of SSD. The results showed that the depth of SSD in silicon increased with the size of diamond grit. SSD can be reduced by either increasing the peripheral speed of the grinding wheel or decreasing the feeding rate of the grinding wheel in the <100> crystal orientation, if the same size of diamond grit was employed. In addition, we proposed a modified model around surface roughness and subsurface crack depth, which considered plastic and brittle deformation mechanisms and material properties of different crystal orientations. When the surface roughness (R(Z)) exceeded the brittle-plastic transition’s critical value R(ZC) (R(ZC<100>) > 1.5 μm, R(ZC<110>) > 0.8 μm), cracks appeared on the subsurface. The experimental results were consistent with the predicted model, which could be used to predict the subsurface cracks by measuring the surface roughness. However, the model only gives the approximate range of subsurface defects, such as dislocations. The morphology and precise depth of plastic deformation subsurface defects, such as dislocations generated in the fine grinding stage, needed to be inspected by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which were further studied.