Performance of an Electro-Optic-Liquid Coupling Nozzle with a Multi-Jet Focusing Structure

Ultra-precision components have been widely used to produce advanced optoelectronic equipment. The so-called Electric field enhanced UltraViolet-Induced Jet Machining (EUV-INCJM) is an ultra-precision method that can achieve sub-nanometer level surface quality polishing. This study focuses on the application of the EUV-INCJM with different nozzle structures to a single-crystal of silicon. Two kinds of electro-optic-liquid coupling nozzles with single-jet and multi-jet focusing structures are proposed accordingly. Simulations and experiments have been conducted to verify the material removal performance of these nozzles. The simulation results show that, under the same condition, the flow velocity of the single-jet nozzle is 1.05 times higher than that achieved with the multi-jet configuration, while the current density of the latter is 1.63 times higher than that of the single-jet nozzle. For the single-crystal silicon, the material removal efficiency of the multi-jet focusing nozzle exceeds by about 1.4 times that of the single-jet. These results confirm that the material removal ability of the multi-jet configuration is more suitable for ultra-smooth surface polishing. The surface roughness of Si workpiece was reduced from Rq 1.55 to Rq 0.816 nm with valleys and peaks on its surface being almost completely removed.