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Investigation on Material Removal Mechanisms in Photocatalysis-Assisted Chemical Mechanical Polishing of 4H–SiC Wafers

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Abstract

Photocatalysis-assisted chemical mechanical polishing, in which the photocatalysis oxidation and silica abrasives polishing are combined, is a novel finishing technique for 4H–SiC wafer. This paper characterizes the effect of pressure and abrasives on the MRR and surface quality and discusses mechanical and chemical interaction based three slurries that resulted in maximum material removal rate (1.18 μm/h) with PCMP slurry. The polished silicon carbide wafer was examined with atomic force microscope, transmission electron microscope and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for surface quality and material removal mechanism. The results show that an atomically smooth and flat 4H–SiC (0001) surface (Ra about 0.247 nm) was obtained by PCMP. The interface of crystal and amorphous layer of 4H–SiC wafer was flat without introducing crystallographic subsurface damage, and the atoms and lattice fringes of the crystal layer are arranged in regular order. The existence of a thin silicon oxycarbide layer, which are various forms of functional groups such as Si–C, Si–C–O, Si–O, Si4C4O4, C–O, and C = O, at the interface. And, it also demonstrates that the amorphous layer is composed of oxide layer (4–6 nm) and distorted layer. The silicon carbide surface is mechanically activated, oxidized and mechanically removed in turn, which is the main method of material removal.

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Abbreviations

PCMP:

Photocatalysis-assisted chemical mechanical polishing

SiC:

Silicon carbide

MRR:

Material removal rate

·OH:

Hydroxyl radical

e − :

Electron

h + :

Hole

TiO2 :

Titanium dioxide

SiO2 :

Silica

Al2O3 :

Alumina

ZrO2 :

Zirconia

FESEM:

Field emission scanning electron microscopy

AFM:

Atomic force microscope

TEM:

Transmission electron microscopy

XPS:

X-rays photoelectron spectroscopy

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from the National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51305278), the Basic Research Foundation of Liaoning Province Universities (Grant No. LFGD2017007) and the General Project of Education Department of Liaoning Province of China [Grant Number L2017LQN024].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Liaoning Petrochemical University, Fushun, 113001, China

    Yan He, Shuyuan Song, Xingjun Gao & Wenjuan Deng

  2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Shenyang University of Technology, Shenyang, 110870, China

    Zewei Yuan

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Correspondence to Yan He.

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He, Y., Yuan, Z., Song, S. et al. Investigation on Material Removal Mechanisms in Photocatalysis-Assisted Chemical Mechanical Polishing of 4H–SiC Wafers. Int. J. Precis. Eng. Manuf. 22, 951–963 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-021-00494-1

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