Surface Smoothing of Polycrystalline Substrates with Gas Cluster Ion Beams

概要

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The surface smoothing of polycrystalline materials is difficult owing to the etching rate dependence on crystalline orientation. In this study, surface smoothing with a gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) was studied in polycrystalline substrates such as poly-SiC (surface roughness, 0.3 nm) and yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG; surface roughness, 1.1 nm). Before irradiation, there were many scratches induced by mechanical polishing on poly-SiC. These scratches were removed after Ar-GCIB irradiation. Additional O2-GCIB irradiation for asperity removal showed improvement in the average roughness of poly-SiC to 0.3 nm. Similarly, the scratches on the as-polished surface of YAG disappeared and the YAG surface roughness decreased to 0.7 nm with Ar-GCIB irradiation without inducing an etching rate difference between grains. It was also shown that polycrystalline diamond or poly-Si films can be smoothed using GCIB. These results indicate that GCIB polishing is suitable for the surface planarization of polycrystalline materials.
2010-06-25