Molecular Dynamics Study on Sub-Nanoscale Removal Mechanism of 3C-SIC in a Fixed Abrasive Polishing

The mechanical removal mechanism of silicon carbide crystal is investigated by Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation in a fixed abrasive polishing. Special attention is paid to the effect of the sub-nano scratching depth on the mechanical removal behavior. It was found that only the amorphous phase transition occurs in SiC. The temperature, subsurface damage depth and removal rate of SiC substrates increase with the increase of scratching depth. Furthermore, the result shows that the scratching force increases as the scratching depth increases.