Abstract

Polishing techniques which produce geometrically accurate surface without damage and strain are required for most inorganic materials used for electronics. In general, these materials are mechanically polished with fine hard abrasives. The present "Mechanochemical Polishing" developed by the authors (1) is ideal for this request, because very flat and damageless mirror surface can be easily obtained by using this technique, which can be carried out in the same way as conventional mechanical polishing methods. The main distinction of this method is to use powders which are mechanically softer than the materials to be polished and chemically reactable with them. As the soft powders neither mechanicallyindent nor scratch the material surface, smooth and scratch-free surface of hard materials can be obtained, even if powders of large grain sizes and relativelly rigid polishers are used.

© 1984 Optical Society of America