Efficient grinding diamond film using chromium-coated diamond grinding wheel based on mechanochemical effect

Diamond has significant advantages in the future application of semiconductor devices due to its excellent properties. Therefore, achieving efficient and low-damage processing of diamonds is crucial. However, processing diamonds is extremely challenging due to their high hardness and chemical inertness. To overcome this challenge, we propose a novel method to expedite the grinding diamond films based on mechanochemical effect. Specifically, a grinding wheel containing Cr-coated diamond abrasives was employed to achieve the rapid grinding of diamond film. The reason for the rapid reactive grinding of diamond film is that the Cr coating on the diamond abrasives reacted with the diamond film in situ to form carbide while facilitating graphitization of diamond film at the contact points at high temperatures due to friction. The results indicated that the Cr-coated diamond grinding wheel exhibited a higher material removal rate (MRR) compared with the uncoated diamond grinding wheel. The maximum MRR of the diamond film reached 1438 nm/min under the grinding condition of 700 N 600 rpm, and the minimum surface roughness of the diamond film reached 35.8 nm under 600 N 600 rpm. This mechanochemical grinding method provides an innovative approach for efficient and precise processing of hard and difficult-to-machine new-generation semiconductor materials.