Abstract
Single-crystal silicon exhibits a strong preference to cleave along a few certain planes, but in experiments we observe wavy cracks with almost no evidence of a preferred fracture direction. Furthermore, we find that the fracture surface is an anisotropic and self-affine fractal over five decades in length scale in the direction of the crack with a roughness exponent of 0.78. In our experiments a 1-4 cm wide strip of single-crystal silicon is heated to 378degreesC and lowered into a 20degreesC water bath at speeds of 0.2-5 cm/s. The thermal gradient produces cracks that, depending on the speed, are straight, wavy with amplitude 0.1-0.5 cm and wavelength 0.3-1 cm, or multibranched. The transition from one mode of fracture to another is discontinuous and hysteretic.
Translated title of the contribution | Wavy and rough cracks in silicon |
---|---|
Original language | English |
Article number | Art. No. 066209 Part 2 |
Pages (from-to) | 1 - 7 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Physical Review E: Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics |
Volume | 67 (6) 066209 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2003 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher: American Physical SocietyOther identifier: IDS Number: 699YN