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155 Suhong East Road, Suzhou Industrial Park, Jiangsu Province, China 
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
In an era marked by rapid technological advancements, artificial intelligence is evolving at an unprecedented pace, leading to an explosive growth in computational power and data demands. Concurrently, the manufacturing of optoelectronic devices is also advancing swiftly. Lithium niobate crystals, as typical substrate materials for optoelectronic devices, embody a range of effects including photorefractive, nonlinear, electro-optic, acousto-optic, piezoelectric, and thermoelectric effects. These crystals exhibit excellent thermal stability, chemical stability, and tunability, making them suitable for the fabrication of high-end optoelectronic devices such as optical waveguide devices, optical parametric oscillators, photorefractive devices, harmonic generators, infrared detectors, laser modulators, and frequency doublers.
Lithium tantalate (LT), another excellent multifunctional crystal material, is widely used in civilian and military applications, including mobile and satellite communications, due to its outstanding piezoelectric, electro-optic, and thermoelectric properties. It boasts a high electromechanical coupling coefficient, low loss, high-temperature stability, and exceptional high-frequency performance. From the smartphones we use daily to radar systems critical for national defense, lithium tantalate plays an irreplaceable role.
However, materials like lithium niobate and lithium tantalate, classified as soft brittle materials, present significant challenges during the polishing process due to their difficulty in machining and time-consuming nature. The efficient execution of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) has emerged as a pressing issue within the industry. In response to this challenge, the Kona team has tirelessly worked on technological iterations, successfully launching a silica polishing liquid specifically designed for infrared crystals such as lithium niobate. This product features an excellent removal rate, high storage stability, and ease of cleaning after polishing.
Challenges and Breakthroughs in Precision Processing of Infrared Crystals
To meet the stringent requirements of high-performance optoelectronic devices for infrared crystals like lithium niobate and lithium tantalate, precision processes such as thinning, grinding, polishing, and ultra-precision surface processing are indispensable. Lithium niobate crystals, subjected to these precision processes, achieve manufacturing quality standards of sub-micron surface profile accuracy, sub-nanometer surface roughness, and nanometer-level surface damage depth. Given that lithium niobate is a typical soft brittle material with strong anisotropy, it often leads to instability in machining precision and surface quality, resulting in scratches, cracks, and abrasive particle embedding. Thus, achieving precision processing of lithium niobate crystals has become a focal point of industry interest.
Currently, lithium niobate wafers primarily utilize ion slicing technology for thinning. High doses of He+ bombardment and high-temperature annealing processes can produce high-quality films with thicknesses ranging from hundreds of nanometers to a few micrometers. During the precision grinding and polishing stages, free abrasive grinding, bonded abrasive processing, and chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) techniques are widely employed. CMP technology combines chemical etching with mechanical friction to achieve atomic-level ultra-smoothness, making it the mainstream method for precision processing of lithium niobate crystals. Our alkaline silica colloidal is used in conjunction with CMP technology, where clients often perform rough polishing with alumina powder before switching to the nano-sized alkaline silica polishing liquid for precision polishing.
Looking Ahead
As the wave of artificial intelligence continues to rise, the demand for computational power and data is surging, propelling the rapid development of optoelectronic device manufacturing technologies. The infrared crystal polishing liquids launched by Kona not only provide efficient solutions for the processing of lithium niobate, lithium tantalate, and other infrared crystals but also offer new insights into the precision machining of soft brittle materials.
In the future, as new materials and processes emerge, CMP technology will continue to evolve towards greater efficiency and lower defect rates, providing solid support for the high-performance manufacturing of optoelectronic devices.
Our company remains committed to deepening our expertise in the polishing liquid sector, striving to offer customers more efficient and cost-effective solutions, thereby driving a comprehensive upgrade in polishing slurry technology and contributing to the thriving development of the semiconductor and optoelectronic industries.
