Research of dry tribochemical mechanical polishing SiC with an innovation abrasive-catalytic abrasive cluster

Abstract Abrasive particles have a crucial influence on the material removal rate and surface quality of the workpiece in tribochemical mechanical polishing. Therefore, this article selects a self-made catalytic abrasive cluster to polish the 6H-SiC and explore the removal mechanism of polishin silicon carbide in the new catalytic abrasive cluster. The tribochemical mechanical polishing test and friction and wear test of 6H-SiC were carried out with three different abrasives, and the evaluation parameters such as material removal rate, surface roughness and friction coefficient were obtained. Quanta 200 scanning electron microscope(SEM) and oxfobrdinca 250 energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and x-ray diffraction(XRD)diffractometer were used to observe the surface, analyze the elements and determine the composition of silicon carbide workpiece after tribochemical mechanical polishing. The experimental result shows that oxygen is produced in the tribochemical mechanical polishing of silicon carbide by catalytic abrasive cluster, which makes the silicon carbide surface generate SiO2 shear film that is easy to be removed. Comparing with iron-based white corundum mixed abrasive and Al2O3 abrasive, the catalytic abrasive cluster has better processability for 6H-SiC, and the material removal rate can reach to 42.928nm/min.