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Open Access | Online First

Ultraprecision machining for single-crystal silicon carbide wafers: State-of-the-art and prospectives

Haoxiang WANGRenke KANGZhigang DONGShang GAO( )
State Key Laboratory of High-performance Precision Manufacturing, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China

Peer review under responsibility of Editorial Committee of JAMST

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Abstract

Silicon carbide (SiC) has a wide range of application prospects for the excellent characteristics. However, its high hardness, brittleness, and chemical inertia improve the processing difficulty, which restricts the popularization and application of single-crystal SiC semiconductor devices. This paper introduces the research progress of SiC from two parts: material removal mechanism and ultraprecision machining technology. The material removal and damage formation mechanism of SiC at home and abroad, as well as the research progress of lapping, polishing technology and ultraprecision grinding technology are introduced in detail. The analysis shows that there are some differences in the removal mechanisms of SiC studied by different scholars. In addition, the lack of a reasonable theoretical model for surface integrity hinders the selection of efficient and low-damage process parameters for grinding SiC wafers. In terms of single crystal SiC ultraprecision machining, the more mature machining methods at this stage mainly go through three steps: double-sided lapping, single-sided lapping and chemical mechanical polishing. The machining efficiency and surface integrity of each step affect the production efficiency and scrap rate of the final product. As SiC wafers develop towards larger sizes, ultraprecision grinding technology, which utilizes workpiece rotation grinding principles, emerges as an efficient and low-damage machining method of SiC wafers, has the potential to replace the traditional lapping.

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Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Science and Technology
Article number: 2025010
Cite this article:
WANG H, KANG R, DONG Z, et al. Ultraprecision machining for single-crystal silicon carbide wafers: State-of-the-art and prospectives. Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Science and Technology, 2024, https://doi.org/10.51393/j.jamst.2025010

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Received: 15 July 2024
Revised: 14 August 2024
Accepted: 25 August 2024
Published: 27 August 2024
© 2025 JAMST

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0),which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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