Improvement of Local Surface Quality by Using Single Abrasive Abrasion Process

AFM-based wear process actually is single abrasive abrasion process. It is widely employed in the surface micro/nano machining for fabrication of structures at the nanometer scale exhibiting high removing ability of nanometer scale materials. In this study, application of AFM-based single abrasive abrasion process in the local surface quality (surface roughness) improvement was studied. Merged holes were fabricated using an AFM diamond tip with different wear parameters on the surface of germanium (Ge) machined by conventional ultra-precision diamond turning. Results showed that cracks left by diamond turning can be removed and the local surface quality can be improved. Also effects of the wear parameters on the surface roughness were investigated. The optimized parameters of the abrasion process for improving the surface quality were provided. It is verified that AFM-based single abrasive abrasion process is a novel approach to modify or repair local surface on the surface of parts manufactured by other methods.