Study on the Evolution Mechanism of Defects Morphology in Atomic Scale Polishing of LiNbO3

doi:10.3901/JME.2025.13.474

Abstract

Abstract: Lithium niobate crystal is known as "silicon of photonics" due to its excellent piezoelectric, acoustic-electric, electro-optical, and nonlinear optical properties. It has become an important substrate material for key devices in the fields of detection and communication. However, due to the soft and brittle characteristics of lithium niobate, it is inevitable to produce scratches, pits and other defects in the grinding and chemical mechanical polishing process to reduce the performance of the device. And the evolution of the defect removal mechanism is still unclear. In view of the existing problems, the effect of different grinding slurries on the surface defects of lithium niobate is studied. The evolution of lithium niobate surface defects after different polishing times is investigated. The effect of abrasive particles in the polishing solution on the defects is simulated and the surface flattening mechanism of lithium niobate atomic scale polishing is elucidated. The results show that the use of 4% 1 μm Al₂O₃, 0.6% H₂O₂, and pH value 11 grinding slurry can effectively reduce the defect depth. Due to the larger erosion effect of the abrasive particles on the defect edge during the polishing process, the scratches generated during the grinding stage gradually evolved into a single pit. The depth of the pits decreases with the increase of the polishing time, and the width increases and then decreases with the increase of the polishing time. After 9 hours of polishing with new polishing slurry, the surface defects were completely eliminated, and the surface roughness Sa is reduced to 0.10 nm, realizing atomic scale polishing.

Key words: lithium niobate, chemical mechanical polishing, defects, evolution mechanism, surface roughness

CLC Number:

TG356

GUO Jiang, YANG Zhe, XU Haijun, LI Linguang, WANG Dongzhou, ZHANG Pengfei. Study on the Evolution Mechanism of Defects Morphology in Atomic Scale Polishing of LiNbO₃[J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2025, 61(13): 474-482.

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Study on the Evolution Mechanism of Defects Morphology in Atomic Scale Polishing of LiNbO₃

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