Numerical investigation on subsurface damage in nanometric cutting of single-crystal silicon at elevated temperatures

CL Liu and X Chen and JY Ke and ZD She and JG Zhang and JF Xiao and JF Xu, JOURNAL OF MANUFACTURING PROCESSES, 68, 1060-1071 (2021).

DOI: 10.1016/j.jmapro.2021.06.040

Achieving nanometric surface on single-crystal silicon is important for semiconductor and optoelectronics industries. In recent years, thermal assisted machining (hot machining) raises as an effective technique for highquality surface fabrication of single-crystal silicon. However, the formation mechanism of the subsurface damage at elevated cutting temperatures is still unclear. In this paper, molecular dynamics simulation and cutting experiments were conducted to study the subsurface damage evolution in single-crystal silicon at elevated cutting temperatures. The cutting mechanism and behavior of the amorphous phase were investigated. The results indicate that with an increase of the cutting temperature, the subsurface damage can be greatly suppressed and the cutting mechanism can be distinct with ordinary cutting. Furthermore, the lubricant effect of the amorphous layer and the recrystallization process are determined as two important reasons for suppression of the subsurface damage at high cutting temperature. The lubricant effect reduces the deformation of the crystal substrate and decreases the frictional coefficient during cutting. While the recrystallization mainly occurs before the compressive stress decrease to zero, which causes point-like subsurface damage and thinner amorphous layer on the machined surface.

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