Atomic surface of silicon (Si) wafers without particulate contamination achieved by chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is highly desired for advanced chip manufacturing. Traditional CMP processes usually employ abrasive-containing slurries, resulting in significant particulate residues and high-cost post-treatments. To settle this challenge, a novel abrasive-free CMP slurry only including designated chain-length alkylamine was developed based on the observed dependence between the Si surface roughness and alkylamine chain length. After polishing by the long-chain hexylamine slurry, an atomic surface without particulate contamination is achieved with surface roughness as low as 0.13 nm, which is 85% lower than that obtained using short-chain methylamine slurry, while maintaining a material removal rate of 57.7 nm/min. Then, we established an atomic mechanistic framework that integrates interfacial chemistry with mechanical action to understand how alkylamine chain length modulates mechanochemistry in abrasive-free Si CMP. Density functional theory calculations show that long-chain alkylamines adsorb more readily but have a milder weakening effect on Si–Si bonds, whereas short-chain counterparts, despite weaker adsorption, more effectively weaken these bonds. Nanowear tests and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy corroborate that the dynamic equilibrium between the adsorption strength and bond weakening promotes the formation of a mechanically vulnerable reaction layer composed by O_x–Si–N_y compounds amenable to abrasive-free removal for atomic smoothness. Our findings shift the mechanistic paradigm from conventional abrasive-involved interfacial interactions to abrasive-free, chemically driven, adsorption-controlled removal processes. These insights offer valuable theoretical guidelines for both academic research and industrial practice in ultra-precision manufacturing and advanced semiconductor processing.

The atomic edge structure of graphene governs its unique electronic properties with applications in nanoscale electronics and optoelectronics. To fully realize its potential, it is critical to develop a precision etching process producing graphene edges along desired directions. Here, we present a novel approach utilizing scanning probe lithography (SPL) facilitated by a mechanochemical atomic attrition process. This technique enables the fabrication of nanopatterns in single-layer graphene from graphene edges, precisely along the crystallographic orientation of zigzag (ZZ) and armchair (AC) edges, without inducing mechanical damage to the surrounding area. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that the dissociation of C‒C bonds by the SPL probe is mediated by the formation of interfacial bridge bonds between the graphene edge and the reactive silica surface. This SPL-based mechanochemical etching method enables the construction of various nanodevice structures with specific edge orientations, which allows the exploitation of their electronic properties.

Lubrication failure accompanying with blackening phenomenon significantly reduces the long-running operational reliability of porous polymide (PPI) lubricated with poly-α-olefin (PAO) oil. Here, the effects of lubrication condition and counter-surface chemistry on the blackening failure of PAO impregnated PPI were studied through the comparison of the tribological tests against GCr15 steel ball and Al₂O₃ ceramic ball with and without PAO oil lubrication. Black products were found to be formed on the PAO impregnated PPI surface slid against steel ball or Al₂O₃ ball added with iron nano-particles, but be absent under the conditions without iron or PAO oil. Further analysis indicated that the iron-catalyzed splitting of PAO oil into small molecule alkanes and following the formation of black organic matter should be mainly responsible for the blackening phenomenon. Molecular dynamic (MD) simulations demonstrated that the iron facilitated the separation of hydrogen atom and the following broken of C–C bonds in PAO molecules, final resulting in the splitting of PAO oil.

Achievement of steady and reliable super-low friction at the steel/steel contact interface, one of the most tribological systems applied for mechanical moving parts, is of importance for prolonging machine lifetime and reducing energy consumption. Here we reported that the superlubricity performance of the steel/steel sliding interface lubricated with tiny amounts of diketone solution strongly depends on the oxygen content in surrounding environment. The increase of oxygen not only significantly shortens the initial running-in time but also further reduces the stable coefficient of friction in superlubricity stage due to the enhancement of tribochemical reactions. On the one hand, more severe oxidation wear occurring at higher oxygen content facilitates material removal of the contact interface, lowering the contact pressure and the corresponding initial friction. On the other hand, the growth of iron ions during the shear process in high oxygen environment promotes the formation of chelate which acted as an effective lubricated film chemisorbed at the steel/steel friction interface to further lower the interfacial friction. The results provide a new opportunity to further optimize the tribological performance of diketone superlubricity system, especially towards the lubrication of mechanical engineering materials.

Mechanochemical reactions of the GaN–Al₂O₃ interface offer a novel principle for scientific and technological merits in the micro-/nano-scale ultra-precision surface machining. In this work, the mechanochemical reactions on Ga- and N-faced GaN surfaces rubbed by the Al₂O₃ nanoasperity as a function of the environmental humidity were investigated. Experimental results indicate that the N-face exhibits much stronger mechanochemical removal over the relative humidity range of 20%–80% than the Ga-face. Increasing water molecules in environmental conditions significantly promotes the interfacial mechanochemical reactions and hence accelerates the atomic attrition on N-face. The hypothesized mechanism of the selective water-involved mechanochemical removal is associated with the dangling bond configuration, which affects the mechanically-stimulated chemical reactions via altering the activation energy barrier to form the bonding bridge across the sliding interface. These findings can enrich the understanding of the underlying mechanism of mechanochemical reactions at GaN–Al₂O₃ interface and a broad cognition for regulating the mechanochemical reactions widely existing in scientific and engineering applications.

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) film has been developed as an extremely effective lubricant to reduce energy dissipation; however, most films should undergo running-in to achieve a super-low friction state. In this study, the running-in behaviors of an H-DLC/Al₂O₃ pair were investigated through a controllable single-asperity contact study using an atomic force microscope. This study presents direct evidence that illustrates the role of transfer layer formation and oxide layer removal in the friction reduction during running-in. After 200 sliding cycles, a thin transfer layer was formed on the Al₂O₃ tip. Compared with a clean tip, this modified tip showed a significantly lower adhesion force and friction force on the original H-DLC film, which confirmed the contribution of the transfer layer formation in the friction reduction during running-in. It was also found that the friction coefficient of the H-DLC/Al₂O₃ pair decreased linearly as the oxygen concentration of the H-DLC substrate surface decreased. This phenomenon can be explained by a change in the contact surface from an oxygen termination with strong hydrogen bond interactions to a hydrogen termination with weak van der Waals interactions. These results provide new insights that quantitatively reveal the running-in mechanism at the nanoscale, which may help with the design optimization of DLC films for different environmental applications.