Polishing Pads
POLISHING PAD OVERVIEW
In the surface preparation field, the applications that require precision polishing are diverse. Spartan Polishing Pads are designed to accommodate a variety of material and application requirements. In order to accommodate a broad spectrum of needs, let’s investigate some of the major application categories keeping in mind that there are applications-specific needs in each area.
Our Spartan Polishing Pads in 3 basic categories:
- Pads for lap/polishing are very dense composite materials designed for use with a variety of abrasive powders and polishing compounds.
- Stock removal pads are hard to medium density pads of non-woven, impregnated materials manufactured with an environmentally friendly process.
- Final Polish Pads are typically polycorfam materials (synthetic leathers) of various compressions and pore structures that enable excellent surface finished (super polishing).
Many advanced materials require the use of “applications-specific” surface preparation media for lapping, polishing and planarization. Spartan Polishing Pad Division designs and manufacturers synthetic pads to accommodate the requirements for a wide variety of polishing applications. The industries using such quality products are industrial, semiconductor, compound semiconductor, optics & electro-optics, geology, metallographic and advanced materials industries.
Spartan’s advantage is that we can customize our pads to your applications-specific requirements upon request. Many stock removal pads are available up to 60” diameters with pressure sensitive adhesive and grooving Patterns. Embossing and perforating is available on pads under 36” diameters.
Some typical applications would include but are not limited to:
- Glass & Quartz for industrial, electronic and medical applications
- Rock & Stone for industrial and geological applications
- Silicon, & Germanium for semiconductor applications
- Gallium Arsenide, Gallium Nitride & Indium Phosphide for electronic applications
- Sapphire for industrial, medical and electronic applications
- Silicon Carbide for industrial and electronic applications
- Various Metals for industrial and aerospace applications
Spartan Polishing Pad Division can chemically or mechanically design pad structures in a variety of densities, hardness and compositions. Abrasive impregnations include diamond, boron carbide, silicon carbide, aluminum oxide and cerium oxide. Such abrasive additives are needed to enhance the removal rates during pre-polish steps (i.e.: lapping with pad media) as well as use during stock removal polishing steps. Particle sizes range from submicron to 15 micron diameters and are impregnations using tight distribution powders. Since we manufacture our own product range, we can accommodate custom diameters up to 53 inches. A custom selection of pad finishes is possible to include embossed or perforated textures.
One of the growing technologies being addressed is the need for CMP (chemo-mechanical polishing & planarization) of virgin wafers and deposited structures on electronic materials. Spartan Polishing Pad Division’s HPB and HPC Series of pads are an excellent alternative to industry offerings and provide a unique approach with superior results. Requirements for the final polishing of diverse materials can also be met with Spartan Polishing Pad Division products.
METAL PREPARATION POLISHING PADS
Many companies have the need to prepare samples of the materials or metal products they manufacture. Analysis of a material’s metallographic microstructure will show if the material has been processed correctly. It is a critical step for determining product reliability. After samples have been cut, ground or lapped they will need to be polished. Spartan Polishing Pads can be employed to remove the necessary bulk material while maintaining excellent flatness. A softer polishing pad can be used to improve the surface quality prior to examination.
Another example of metals polishing is when a primary component needs to be taken from an “as-lapped” surface to a polished surface. Aluminum disk polishing, valve seals, spacers and other specialty parts require precision surfaces. Careful selection of Spartan Polishing Pads in conjunction with the proper abrasive and suspension agent will provide a highly polished surface.
GLASS & PLASTICS POLISHING PADS
In general, the uses for common glass is too numerous to mention. Many glass polishing requirements these days are still based on the traditional optics industry requirements. Plano and spherical lens, filters, cover plates and others comprise much of the applications needs. LCD’s, micro-lenses, photomasks and other scientific/medical requirements demand the use of Spartan Polishing Pads for defect free surfaces. Edge polishing is also possible with special pads and wheels designed by Spartan’s engineering staff.
SEMICONDUCTOR POLISHING PADS
The backbone of the semiconductor industry is the integrated circuit. IC’s use silicon and germanium wafers as the basis for the original microchip. Such microchips have become smaller in scale over the years and therefore the quality and consistency if the polishing pads used to prepare the active surfaces also need to improve. In the manufacturing of Spartan Polishing Pads, quality control is essential in providing a consistent product. Pad types range from medium-hard densities to soft textures in order to meet the total surface preparation spectrum. Traditional virgin material polishing as well as planarization applications can be accomplished using Spartan Polishing Pads.
COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTOR POLISHING PADS
Advanced IC fabrication requirements have brought about the need to polish fragile materials such as gallium arsenide and indium phosphide. Although these materials may be polished as individual wafers, they can also be thin film depositions that need to be polished. Typically, these materials employ more of a chemical polishing process than the traditional chemo-mechanical polishing processes.
ADVANCED MATERIALS POLISHING PADS
Many of the emerging technologies use sapphire, silicon carbide and ceramic wafers to have a very flat surface and high degree of surface finish with low defect densities. The polishing of these materials requires use of different pads and slurries and the modification of the basic variable parameters that are applied to the polishing machine. Spartan Polishing Pad Division has a developing line of pads that address the critical needs of these hard materials.
In conclusion, the Spartan Polishing Pad product range offers a diverse selection of non-woven pad media at a very reasonable price. Excellent customer service is built-into the companies philosophy since its conception.
