Surface generation and grinding forces in ultra-small-grinding (USG) of single-crystal silicon with different crystal orientations

To explore the influence of crystal anisotropy of single-crystal silicon on ultra-small-grinding (USG), the surface generation and grinding forces of single-crystal silicon chips with different crystal orientations in USG were investigated. The geometric structures of single-crystal silicon in different crystal orientations and crystal planes were analyzed. A grinding force model of single-crystal silicon considering crystal structure was proposed in this study. Grinding experiments were conducted on commercial single-crystal silicon chips with crystal orientation < 100 > , < 111 > , and < 110 > by the USG tools with a diameter of 100 µm. Experimental results were used to validate the grinding force model proposed in this study. Under the same grinding parameters, the normal grinding force of crystal orientation < 111 > is the smallest of the three crystal orientations. Thanks to its high symmetry, regular atomic arrangement and smaller crystal layers per volume, the grinding surface of crystal orientation < 100 > has the smallest edge chipping, the least surface defect, and the shallowest defect in the three crystal orientations.