Title: On the strength of triboemission in sliding of diamond on single crystal silicon

Authors: Hisham A. Abdel-Aal

Addresses: Laboratoire de Mecanique et Procede de Fabrication (LMPF, EA4106), Arts et Metier ParisTech, LMPF, Rue Saint Dominique BP 508, 51006, Chalons-en-Champagne – France

Abstract: Triboemission is associated with energy dissipation in sliding friction of solids. It is related to wear of diamond tools in precision machining of semiconductors. When semiconducting silicon slides over diamond emission intensity decreases as contact progresses over the wear track. This is anomalous to experimentally observed order of emission intensity: insulator > semiconductor > conductor. Explanations centred on contamination by dielectric oxide films during sample preparation or the nature of mono-crystalline semiconductors. Here we propose an alternative explanation to this phenomenon that is on the high pressure behaviour of semiconductors. We show that due to repeated sliding, the wear tracks experience a semiconductor-to-metal transformation that renders the bulk of material immediately under the diamond slider conducting. As such, the material volume under the diamond slider essentially behaves as a metal and due to the changes in its electrical resistivity and work function emission will be of weak undetectable strength.

Keywords: triboemission; semiconductor-to-metal phase transformation; metallic silicon; single crystal silicon; energy dissipation; sliding friction; wear; diamond tools; precision machining; semiconductors; diamond slider; tool wear.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPTECH.2010.031661

International Journal of Precision Technology, 2010 Vol.1 No.3/4, pp.331 - 342

Published online: 16 Feb 2010 *

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