Materials removal mechanism for GaN grinding under the coupling of Cu coating and textured surface by atomic simulation

HF Dai and ZH Shang, APPLIED PHYSICS A-MATERIALS SCIENCE & PROCESSING, 131, 1000 (2025).

DOI: 10.1007/s00339-025-09134-1

This study uses molecular dynamics simulations to systematically examine how varying the thickness of the Cu coating and the parameters of the surface texture (groove spacing: 0.5-1.5 nm; groove depth: 0.4-1.2 nm) affects the grinding performance of GaN nanostructures. Key aspects examined include temperature variations, surface morphology, potential energy changes, abrasive forces, subsurface damage and dislocation evolution. The results show that increasing the Cu coating thickness from 0 nm to 1 nm decreases the Newton layer temperature and the subsurface depth by 16.4% and 21.5%, respectively, while also reducing the potential energy and the total dislocation length. These findings suggest that appropriately increasing the Cu coating thickness could improve machining quality. Conversely, reducing groove spacing and increasing groove depth enhance the texture's ability to capture and accommodate removed atoms, thereby reducing surface atom accumulation. This decreases the average tangential and normal forces and potential energy, thereby lowering the average friction coefficient by 9.5% and 18.4%, respectively. The Newton layer temperature decreased by 10.3% and 28.7%, the subsurface damage depth decreased by 10.4% and 17.0%, and the total dislocation length decreased by 23.9% and 53.2%. Therefore, it can be concluded that reducing groove spacing and increasing groove depth has the potential to improve machining quality and further enhance the surface machinability of GaN.

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