Mechanical material removal during ultraprecision machining of semiconductors crystals normally induces surface damage. In this article, Raman micro-spectroscopy has been used to probe structural alteration as well as residual stresses in the machined surface generated by single point diamond turning. The damage found is characterized by an amorphous phase in the outmost surface layer. In addition, it is reported, for the first time, the results of in-situ re-crystallization annealing of micromachined silicon monitored by micro-Raman spectroscopy. It is also shown that the annealing heat treatment influenced surface roughness: results were Rmax equal to 24.2 nm and 47.3 nm for the non treated and for the annealed surfaces, respectively.
silicon; diamond turning; annealing; Raman spectroscopy; AFM
