Slurries are aqueous dispersions containing compact or mesoporous particles, primarily utilized in advanced silicon-based technologies. They also play a critical role in various industrial processes, including the fabrication of compact discs, hard disk drives, and the polishing of optical surfaces. The characteristics of the abrasive material, their structure and size distribution typically play an important role in determining their removal properties. The CLASSIZER™ family of particle analysers is the perfect solution for characterizing both the size distribution, the compactness of the mesopouros structure and the presence of solid contaminants or subvisible/submicron-scale aggregates.
Example of application: Silica Particles
Commercial silica particles are commonly available on the market. In the figure below we show the EOS CLOUD of a measurement of a mix of monodisperse 0.3 µm and 2.0 µm spheres. One can clearly identify two separate populations and analyse them independently. The measured numerical concentrations are 1.4×10E6 ptc/mL for the 0.3 µm sample and 1.3×10E5 ptc/mL for the 2 µm one.
Example of application: CeO2 slurry
Cerium oxide (CeO2) is an abrasive largely employed for the chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) of silicon surfaces. Few microliters of a commercial CeO2 slurry is dispersed in filtered water. SPES/SPES² experimental data are presented in Figure. The EOS software retrieves a refractive index of 2.0±0.4, in agreement with the expected value.
Example of application: Diamond Paste
A diamond is forever. Natural and synthetic diamonds cover high-quality cutters, chainsaws, drillers, but also polishing and lapping machines. The main advantage over other abrasives is their higher performance in cutting and durability. The EOS software determines a refractive index of 2.4±0.4 in agreement with expected value.
