What Industries use your lapping, polishing and cutting equipment?
Logitech equipment is ideal for a number of industries. Our main clients process materials from:
We supply to clients from many different industry areas and material processes, if you would like to discuss your particular area please contact us.
Do you have experience in the Photovoltaic industry?
Our equipment can be used for lapping, polishing and cutting of materials typically used in the Photovoltaic industry such as silicon, cadmium telluride and copper indium gallium selenide. Please get in touch to discuss your requirements.
Do you have any experience in the Medical sciences industry?
Our equipment is used in a number of diverse applications in the medical science industry, please get in touch to discuss your particular requirements and find out if we can help.
What are the benefits of lapping compared to grinding?
A grinding process can cause high levels of stress on delicate materials as the grinding medium tears at the surface of the material, often generating a lot of heat and potentially leaving an uneven surface behind. The damage caused during grinding will also propogate through the material, often producing considerable sub-surface damage. Where a grinding pad is used on a revolving platen, it will always wear unevenly due to the difference in relative movement speed and pad area across the pad diameter, this means that the grinding effect on the sample will change during the process, reducing the accuracy of the sample and the uniformity.
Lapping is a more gentle process as the abrasive is held in a carrier fluid which passes as a liquid between the sample and the lapping plate, and as the liquid flows it performs in a more uniform manner, resulting in more uniform samples. The damage to the material during the lapping process is much lessened and more predictable, and the chance of sample breakage is much reduced.
What is polishing?
Polishing is typically used following a lapping process to remove the lapping damage and produce an acceptable level of surface finish / surface roughness. Various combinations of polishing pads and slurries are available from Logitech to allow different materials to be polished as required.
Can I access material application notes?
Various application notes are available at the following location /knowledge-training/application-process-notes/
What is the recommended Gallium Arsenide process?
Logitech have tried and tested processes for lapping and polishing of Gallium Arsenide, with machine selection dependant on material size and throughput requirements.
Some of our application process notes provide information on the process route for Gallium Arsenide.
What is the recommended Silicon Wafer process?
Logitech have tried and tested processes for lapping and polishing of silicon, with machine selection dependant on material size and throughput requirements.
Some of our application process notes provide information on the process route for Silicon.
What is the recommended Silicon Carbide process?
Logitech have tried and tested processes for lapping and polishing of silicon carbide, with machine selection dependant on material size and throughput requirements.
Some of our application process notes provide information on the process route for Silicon Carbide.
What is the recommended Gallium Nitride process?
Logitech have tried and tested processes for lapping and polishing of Gallium Nitride, with machine selection dependant on material size and throughput requirements.
Some of our application process notes provide information on the process route for Gallium Nitride.
What is the recommended Sapphire process?
Logitech have tried and tested processes for lapping and polishing of Sapphire, with machine selection dependant on material size and throughput requirements.
Some of our application process notes provide information on the process route for Sapphire.
What is the recommended Concrete Thin Section process?
Logitech have tried and tested processes for sawing, lapping and polishing of geological materials such as concrete, with machine selection dependant on material size and throughput requirements.
Some of our application process notes provide information on the process route for Concrete.
What is the recommended process for Thin Section Coal Preparation?
Logitech have tried and tested processes for the preparation of coal thin and ultra thin sections, with machine selection dependant on material size and throughput requirements.
Some of our application process notes provide information on the process route for the preparation of Ultra thin and thin coal sections.
How much abrasive should I add to my cylinder?
For most applications we recommend a ratio of between 10 and 15% abrasive to water in the slurry cylinder. The optimum ratio for a particular process can be confirmed through trials.
How to attach a pad to a flat plate?
Our polishing pads and cloths are all supplied with a self adhesive backing fitted, allowing them to be easily attached to a flat plate.
How do I fit a pad to my plate?
To fit a self-adhesive backed pad onto a flat plate you should first of all remove the plate from the machine and place on a clear surface. Removal all trace of previous pad / adhesive and clean thoroughly. Peel back a small section of the paper that covers the adhesive and apply to the edge of the plate, careful to ensure that positioning is good. Ease off more of the backing paper whilst pushing the pad down onto the plate gradually, ensuring that no air pockets are allowed to form. Use a clean rolling pin / round bar to press the pad down onto the plate as you continue to ease off the backing paper until the whole pad is secured. Roll over the pad with the rolling pin to ensure it has been fixed well and check for any bumps. On soft cloths it is possible to pierce any small bumps that are found with a sharp knifeto allow the trapped air out, after which they can be rolled flat. A newly fitted pad should be conditioned thoroughly before use- harder pads can be conditioned with a diamond conditioner, softer pads with a conditioning ring. The polishing slurry should be dripped onto the pad during the conditioning.
Why are some pads grooved?
Generally where sample size is 20cm2 / 2″ diameter or less we recommend that a plain pad or plate is used for processing. Where the samples are larger than these sizes grooves are required to allow lapping abrasive or polishing slurry to pass uniformly between the sample and the pad or plate.
How long will my pad last?
Pad life varies considerably depending on the pad type, sample type and processing conditions.
