Summary

A new method has been demonstrated to improve the diamond cutting process and overcome the shortcomings of conventionally machining monocrystalline silicon.
From the study, the conclusions can be drawn as follows:

1. Ion implantation surface modification can effectively achieve ductile machining brittle optical materials and efficiently inhibit surface fracture and tool wear in the machining process.
2. The validity of this novel is proved by both theory and experiments.
3. Ion implantation surface modification ultra-precision machining makes it possible to generate intricate features and optical quality surfaces on brittle optical materials which have a wide range of applications.

Further Developments

Ion implantation surface modification of brittle crystal materials for nanometric cutting just developed for a few years. Further work should be done on the mechanism and applications.
One example of further application is X-ray lenses (Chao et al. 2005).
Analytical tools that have spatial resolution at the nanometric scale are indispensable for the life and physical sciences. It is desirable that these tools also permit elemental and chemical identification on a scale of 10 nm or less, with large penetration depths. A variety of techniques in X-ray imaging are currently being developed that may provide these combined capabilities.
A technique to produce diffractive X-ray lenses optimized for high heat load applications is made from monocrystalline silicon membranes, which have uniform thermal conductivity and homogeneous thermal expansion. Silicon Fresnel zone plates with an outermost zone width down to 30 nm are produced by means of electron beam lithography and reactive ion etching. They are tested in conventional synchrotron light sources in a full-field transmission X-ray microscope and in a scanning transmission X-ray microscope. High resolution in combination with ability to withstand high heat load radiation make them a potential candidate for the new generation of X-ray sources based on the free electron laser principle.
The fabrication of diffractive X-ray lenses can be achieved on ion implantation-modified silicon using ultra-precision turning with single-point diamond tool, which could enhance the fabrication efficiency and accuracy.

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