# Effectiveness of Electrode Design Methodologies for Fast EDM Slotting of Thick Silicon Wafers
## 1 Introduction
[PERSON] et al. (2018) performed parametric optimization of the process parameters for slicing ultra-thin silicon wafers to achieve the minimum kerf loss and maximum slicing rate in wire EDM of silicon wafers. It was found that the servo voltage, open voltage, and their combination with other parameters influenced the output parameters the most. As the open voltage increases, there is an increment in the slicing rate, and vice versa for the kerf loss. There is an increment in the kerf loss and vice versa for the slicing speed with increased servo voltage. The pulse on time and pulse off time have negligible effects on the slicing speed and kerf loss when machining silicon wafers. Tool electrodes and dielectric materials can also influence the machining performance during EDM. [PERSON] et al. [PERSON] et al. (2015) investigated the effects of the tool electrode material and type of dielectric fluid on the material removal rate, tool wear rate, and quality of the machined parts during EDM. For their experiments, the authors used AISI316L and Ti6 Al4V as workpiece materials, brass and tungsten carbide as tool electrode materials, and kerosene, demineralized water, and vegetable oil as dielectric fluid materials. It was found that demineralized water performed better regarding the MRR than kerosene and vegetable oil for both types of workpieces and tool electrodes. For the tool wear ratio, water is still ranked at the top, whereas kerosine rests at the bottom for both the workpiece materials and tool electrodes. However, the material of the tool electrode played a significant role in the quality of the machined parts. For brass, the quality of the machined parts was lower in water compared to those machined in kerosene and vegetable oil. Meanwhile, vegetable oil performed worst in terms of the machining quality of the parts for tungsten carbide. For the material removal rate, the brass electrode performed better than the tungsten carbide electrode, and vice versa for the tool wear ratio. Regarding the quality of the machined parts, the overall performance of the tungsten carbide electrode was better than that of the brass tool electrode. [PERSON] et al. [PERSON] et al. (2018) discussed the effects of the tool electrode materials during EDM of Ti-5 Al-2.5 Sn titanium alloy in terms of the MRR and TWR. Copper, brass, and zinc electrodes with a diameter of 10 mm were used to machine titanium alloy. Brass and zinc electrodes provided a higher material removal rate during EDM than copper electrodes overall. Copper electrodes exhibited a lower tool wear rate, followed by brass and zinc tool electrodes. Compared to brass and zinc electrodes, copper electrodes created a smoother surface finish, lesser recast layer thickness, and a smaller crack width. [PERSON] et al. [17] investigated the effects of electrode materials on the EDM performance of Ti-6 Al-4V using tungsten, copper, and cryogenically treated copper electrodes. The tungsten electrode displayed a lower MRR and rougher surface finish for machining the Ti-6 Al-4V workpiece. Cryogenically treated copper electrodes exhibited the highest material removal rate, lowest tool wear rate, and smoothest surface finish, followed by normal copper electrodes. Cryogenically treated copper electrodes also showed higher microhardness compared to normal copper electrodes. [PERSON] et al. [18] analyzed the effects of nano silicon carbide (SiC) abrasive powder mixed with dielectric fluid for micro-EDM-milling of Inconel 718. A solid tungsten carbide electrode was used to create micro slots on Inconel, and commercially available EDM oil was used as the dielectric fluid. The three distinct concentrations of silicon carbide abrasive powder were 0.2 g/L, 0.3 g/L, and 0.4 g/L. For analysis, the discharge energy was selected in three regimes: low, medium, and high ranges, and varied for 3.2 to 7.2 J (low), 32 to 72 J (medium), and 320 to 720 J (high). The MRR, TWR, and surface roughness of nano-powder-mixed micro-EDM (NP-MEDM) significantly improved compared to those of conventional micro-EDM.