Abstract
This study was performed to investigate the generation process of crack in gallium arsenide (GaAs) in the grinding process. Scratching experiments of GaAs performed on a previously developed scratching machine with a tilt stage indicated that the crack generation process of GaAs is strongly dependent on the crystal orientation and is different from that of silicon. In the present study, indentation tests were performed to investigate the crack generation process. The results indicated that crack generation differed due to the crystal orientation, and median cracks were observed in the <100> directions. A large number of lateral and median cracks were generated in the [011] and [0-1-1] directions rather than the [0-11] and [01-1] directions. In addition, larger brittle fractures occurred due to the interaction of the stress field when the indentation areas were closed. These results indicated that the depth of cut and distance between indentation areas are important factors to prevent brittle fractures.
