Microabrasive air-jet machining is considered as a promising precision processing technology for silicon substrates. In this paper, the impressions produced on a monocrystalline silicon by the impacts of microsolid particles entrained by an air jet and the associated microscopic erosion mechanisms are presented and discussed. It is shown that the impressions can be classified into three categories, namely, craters, scratches, and microdents, of which two types of craters and two types of scratches can lead to large-scale fractures. Craters with cleavage fracture surfaces have been found to play an important role in the material removal process. In addition, it is shown that most particles bounced away from the target surface without sliding or rolling during an impact so that most impressions formed are crater-type erosions.

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