Evidence of crystallographic orientation dependence upon cyclic microindentation-induced recrystallization within amorphous surface layer

Cyclic microindentation experiments were performed using Vickers indenter to investigate whether microindentation induce phase transformations within amorphous silicon layer formed onto the machined surface after single point diamond turning. Although the microindentation induced phase transformation shows direct relationship with crystallographic direction during cyclic microindentation of silicon single crystal, the similar behavior was never probed into machined induced amorphization samples. Phase transformation was probed by micro Raman spectroscopy, which revealed direct evidence not only of recrystallization but also the multiple phase generation. The results indicated that the direction [1 0 0] presented as more susceptible to undergo phase transformation and achieve multiple phases with less microindentation cycles than the [1 1 0] one.

► This letter shows, for the first time, the dependence of crystallographic direction upon multiple crystalline silicon phase formation, obtained from cyclic microindentation Vickers from an amorphous layer formed after ductile mode diamond turning.
► This letter is also complementary of a former letter published by the same authors in materials letters 62 (2008) 812–815.
► The results presented here are original and were never published elsewhere.