Micro-Machinability Studies of Single Crystal Silicon Using Diamond End-Mill

This paper presents the research on the machinability studies in micro-milling of (001) silicon wafer. Excessive generation of undesirable surface and subsurface damages such as surface edge chipping often occurs when machined at depth of cut of several hundreds of microns. Ideal machining strategy to reduce the generation of edge chipping is required. Investigations on the effect of machining conditions on the cutting performances and size effect on the specific cutting energy in silicon micro-milling were conducted. These investigations provide understandings on the behavior of cutting mechanism during machining and helps to identify suitable machining parameters for fracture free machining using diamond end mills. Full slot milling were performed along <100> and <110> directions on a (001) surface wafer under various machining conditions. Results show that machined surfaces along <100> were of better quality than those along <110> and is in agreement with previous studies. Furthermore, good machining quality was achieved when machined at depth of cut of 10 μm or feed per tooth of 0.075 μm/tooth, regardless of the machining conditions. In addition, investigation for the size effect on specific cutting energy also shows that brittle mode machining begins when feed per tooth increases beyond 0.4 μm/tooth.