Ocean State Abrasives is...

In the surface preparation field, the applications that require precision polishing are diverse. Ocean State Abrasives’ Premapad Polishing Pads are designed with 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.

OCEAN STATE ABRASIVES’ PREMAPAD POLISHING PADS: Many advanced materials require the use of “applications-specific” surface preparation media for lapping, polishing and planarization.  Ocean State Abrasives’ Premapad Polishing Pads are synthetic pads designed and manufactured 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.

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

Ocean State Abrasives’ Premapad Polishing Pads can be chemically or mechanically designed 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. 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. Ocean State Abrasives’ Premapad Polishing Pads GPM 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 Ocean State Abrasives’ Premapad Polishing 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. Ocean State Abrasives Premapads 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 Ocean State Abrasives Premapads in conjunction with the proper OSA 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 Ocean State Abrasives’ Premapad Polishing Pads for defect free surfaces. Edge polishing is also possible with special pads and wheels available from Ocean State Abrasives.

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. 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 Ocean State Abrasives’ Premapad 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. Ocean State Abrasives has a developing line of pads that address the critical needs of these hard materials.

In conclusion, the Ocean State Abrasives’ Premapad Polishing Pad product range offers a diverse selection of non-woven pad media at a very reasonable price.