Grinding of Single-Crystal Silicon Using a Microvibration Device

This paper presents experimental results of grinding of single-crystal silicon using a microvibration device and a diamond grindingwheel. Samples were cut from (100) silicon. The grinding direction was parallel to the [110] direction of (100) silicon. These samples were ground under the same grinding conditions but with different vibration directions, frequencies, and/or amplitudes. The surface roughness and the surface texture of all samples were analyzed for comparison. The R_a, R_q, and R_t values and the microphotographs of the ground silicon surfaces showed the dependency of surface finish on the grinding with vibrations. Samples ground with vibrations had better surface finish compared with the silicon surfaces ground without vibrations. Out of the 12 experiments, the best surface finish was achieved when (100) silicon was ground with horizontal vibrations at a 70-Hz frequency and 6-μm amplitude perpendicular to the grinding direction.