Nano-deformation of a Ni-P coating surface after nanoparticle impacts

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) has become a primary planarization technique required for the manufacture of a computer hard disk substrate. In CMP, erosive wear, which is regarded as one of the wear mechanisms underlying the interaction between the abrasive particles and polished surfaces, can occur when materials are removed by the surface collision of particles which are carried by a fluid medium. A fundamental understanding of the process in which nanoparticles impact on the surface of the nickel-phosphorous (Ni-P) coating plated on the computer hard disk substrate is important to the control and preventing of surface defects during CMP. In this study, a cylindrical liquid jet containing de-ionized water and SiO₂ nanoparticles impacts obliquely on the surface of Ni-P coating at a speed of 10 m/s. Microscopic examinations of the impacted surface are performed using a high resolution transmission electron microscope, an atomic force microscope, etc. Experimental results indicate that craters and scratches in the surface have taken place after nanoparticle impacts, and crystal grains in nano-scale and an element phosphorus concentration can be found in the sub-surface layer of the impacted surface.