Micromachining of pure silicon by molecular dynamics

The cutting of nanometer parts has been simulated using molecular dynamics. In this paper single crystals of silicon were cut by idealized tools. The results are compared with those of metals. Pure single crystals of silicon having faces of (111), ((111) over bar), (1(1) over bar 0), (<(1)over bar 1 0>), (11(2) over bar), and (112) were cut by a sharp edge. The potential us ed here was a three-body Stillinger-Weber potential. The depth of the edge was chosen to be one, two and three (111) atomic layers. Single crystals of silicon were found to be harder than those of metals. The plastic deformat ion in silicon was more restricted in a limited area than in metals. The su rface was smoother when the cutting thickness was thicker. Atomic shuffling was not observed. The creation of dislocations depends on the cutting spee d. The chip was always found to be amorphous. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A . All rights reserved.