Abstract
One way of finish machining of brittle materials has been chemical etching after mechanical lapping. However, these methods do not meet the requirements of present-day high technology. The nano-scale machining by ultra precision grinding and cutting is expected new process to change the chemical etching after the mechanical lapping of brittle materials. A material removal with plastic deformation, known as ductile mode machining, has been achieved by a very small (nano-scale) depth of cut. In this study, the nano-scale layers of single-crystal silicon surface are machined by micro-Vickers hardness indenter assumed as single abrasive grain, and the subsurface cracks as well as the surface cracks are observed by a scanning force microscope and a scanning laser microscope. The transition point determined by the subsurface cracks is found to occur in a shallower depth of cut compared with the point by the surface cracks. Therefore the evaluation of the subsurface cracks is important especially in finish machining.
