Effect of temperature on the ductile-to-brittle transition in laser-assisted mechanical ruling of silicon

This paper introduces an innovative hybrid processing method that combines in-situ laser assisted with mechanical ruling. The innovative diamond ruling tool can facilitate laser incidence from both the A and B faces. Additionally, this paper establishes a thermal-mechanical coupled finite element simulation model for in-situ laser-assisted mechanical ruling of single-crystal silicon with varying cutting depths. It aims to analyze the material removal process and the effect of temperature on the ductile-to-brittle transition. In the process, an insitu laser assisted mechanical ruling setup is designed to investigate the impact of different laser powers on the ductile-to-brittle transition. The experimental results align with the simulation outcomes. When the laser power was set to 30W, the critical ductile-to-brittle transition depth reached 320.69 nm, successfully suppressing brittle fracture, validating that the proposed in-situ laser assisted mechanical ruling hybrid processing method can enhance the critical depth of ductile-to-brittle transition and improve the surface quality of microgrooves.