Abstract: A method cuts semiconductor wafers. The method includes: cutting a semiconductor ingot into a workpiece; and sawing the workpiece into slices using a wire grid having a fixed abrasive grain wire, while moving workpiece towards the wire grid. At a first contact of the workpiece with the wire grid, an initial cutting speed is less than 2 mm/min, coolant flow is less than 0.1 l/h and a wire speed is greater than 20 m/s. The workpiece is then guided through the wire grid until a first cutting depth is reached, and then the coolant flow is increased to at least 2000 l/h. The cutting speed is reduced to less than 70% of the initial cutting speed between the first contact of the workpiece with the wire grid up to a cutting depth of half a diameter of the cylinder, and is then increased.

Abstract: A method for slicing a workpiece with a wire saw which includes a wire row formed by winding a fixed abrasive grain wire having abrasive grains secured to a surface thereof around a plurality of grooved rollers, the wire being fed from one of a pair of wire reels and taken up by another, the method including feeding a workpiece to the row for slicing while allowing the wire to reciprocate and travel in an axial direction, thereby slicing the workpiece at a plurality of positions aligned in an axial direction of the workpiece simultaneously. Prior to slicing, an abrasive-grain abrading step wherein the wire is allowed to travel without slicing the workpiece, allowing the wire to rub against itself within the reels, and dressing its surface for 30 minutes or more. The method can dress a fixed abrasive grain wire at low cost and suppress thickness unevenness of wafers.

Abstract: Methods for controlling the surface profiles of wafers sliced from an ingot with a wire saw include measuring an amount of displacement of a sidewall of a frame of the wire saw. The sidewall is connected to a bearing of a wire guide supporting a wire web in the wire saw. Based on the measured amount of displacement of the sidewall, a pressure profile for adjusting a position of the sidewall is determined by a computing device. Pressure is applied to the sidewall using a displacement device according to the determined pressure profile to control the position of the sidewall.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an ingot slicing apparatus, including an ingot moving apparatus provided to be movable vertically and supply an ingot, a wire rotating apparatus provided to be movable horizontally to slice the ingot, a slurry supply unit provided to supply slurry to the slicing apparatus, and an air supply unit provided to supply air to the slicing apparatus and to adjust a supplying amount of the slurry supplied to the slicing apparatus.

Abstract: Methods for controlling the surface profiles of wafers sliced from an ingot with a wire saw include measuring an amount of displacement of a sidewall of a frame of the wire saw. The sidewall is connected to a bearing of a wire guide supporting a wire web in the wire saw. The measured amount of displacement of the sidewall is stored as displacement data. Based on the stored data, a pressure profile for adjusting a position of the sidewall is determined by a computing device. Pressure is applied to the sidewall using a displacement device according to the determined pressure profile to control the position of the sidewall.

Abstract: A method for slicing a crystalline material ingot includes providing a crystalline material boule characterized by a cropped structure including a first end-face, a second end-face, and a length along an axis in a first crystallographic direction extending from the first end-face to the second end-face. The method also includes cutting the crystalline material boule substantially through a first crystallographic plane in parallel to the axis to separate the crystalline material boule into a first portion with a first surface and a second portion with a second surface. The first surface and the second surface are planar surfaces substantially along the first crystallographic plane. The method further includes exposing either the first surface of the first portion or the second surface of the second portion, and performing a layer transfer process to form a crystalline material sheet from either the first surface of the first portion or from the second surface of the second portion.

Abstract: A saw has a system for sensing the torque on a cutting blade to signal when the blade begins to cut material. The saw has a drive belt extending between a driven wheel and a drive wheel and a belt tensioner that engages a side of the belt and maintains tension in the belt. The belt tensioner is movable to maintain the tension in the belt. A control system calculates the movement of the belt tensioner. The saw has a system for determining the size of the sacrificial blade. A through beam photoelectric emitter and receiver pair are positioned on opposite sides of the blade such that a largest cutting blade is moved above the beam regardless of a horizontal position of the cutting blade and sensor senses a vertical position of the axis of the blade. The sensor senses the vertical position of the blade axis when the blade is moved above the beam.

Abstract: Provided is a wafer for solar cell which can be produced using a polycrystalline semiconductor wafer cut out using a bonded abrasive wire, which wafer can be used for manufacturing a solar cell with high conversion efficiency. In a wafer for solar cell before acid texturing of the present invention, produced from a polycrystalline semiconductor wafer cut out using a bonded abrasive wire, an amorphous layer does not exist, and irregularities caused due to the cutting using the bonded abrasive wire are left in at least one surface of the wafer for solar cell.

Abstract: A method for designing a diamond coated wire for use in a wafer slicing system includes adjusting an initial diamond size distribution until an intermediate diamond size distribution is generated, wherein the intermediate diamond size distribution has a corresponding simulated penetration thickness value less than or equal a predetermined penetration thickness value, and wherein penetration thickness is a parameter proportional to a depth of subsurface damage that would occur when slicing an ingot using a diamond coated wire having an associated diamond size distribution. The method may include adjusting the intermediate diamond size distribution until a final diamond size distribution is generated, wherein the final diamond size distribution has a maximum diamond grit size that is substantially equal to a predetermined maximum diamond grit size, and manufacturing the diamond coated wire such that the diamond coated wire has a plurality of diamond grits that fit the final diamond size distribution.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for slicing an ingot by which wire rows are formed by using a wire that is spirally wound between a plurality of wire guides and travels in an axial direction. An ingot is pressed against the wire rows while supplying a working fluid to a contact portion of the ingot and the wire, thereby slicing the ingot into wafers, and a ratio of a wire new line feed amount per unit time in slicing of a slicing start portion of a first ingot to that in slicing of a centration portion of the same at the time of slicing the ingot after replacement of the wire is controlled to be ½ or less of the ratio at the time of slicing second and subsequent ingots after the replacement of the wire.

Abstract: A method for sawing a multiplicity of wafers from a workpiece by means of a wire web of a wire saw includes providing a wire web consisting of a plurality of parallel wire sections. The wire web is spanned by at least two wire guide rollers where each wire guide rollers comprises a core having two side surfaces and a lateral surface. The core is composed of a first material. Each core is rotatably mounted along its longitudinal axis and comprises at least two separate cavities. The lateral surface of each core is enclosed by a jacket composed of a second material. Parallel groves are cut into the jacket for guiding the wire sections of the web. The length of the jacket is altered thermally by means of at least one cavity being filled with a temperature regulating medium.

Abstract: A method for simultaneously cutting a multiplicity of slices from a cylindrical workpiece, along strictly convex cutting faces, by supplying a suspension of hard substances in a carrier liquid, as cutting medium, to wire portions, while the wire portions, having a longitudinal tension, define a relative motion to the workpiece as a result of wire guide roller rotation with continual alternation between a first direction of rotation and a second direction of rotation, which is opposite to the first direction of rotation, wherein, during the rotation in the first direction, the wire is moved a first length, and during the rotation in the second direction, the wire is moved a second length, and the second length is shorter than the first, and at the cutting operation start a first longitudinal wire tension is greater than a second longitudinal tension at the end.

Abstract: The invention a fixed abrasive sawing wire comprising diamond particles held in a metallic retention layer on a steel wire. The steel wire has a diameter less than 300 ???. More than half of the diamond particles (102, 102?, 104, 104?, 104?, 104??) have a cubo-octahedral morphology as obtained in the diamond synthesis by high pressure at high temperature. 95% of the diamond particles have a size of 80 pm or less. The diamond particles predominantly show low elongation below or equal to 0.2 and are not obtained by crushing larger diamonds.

Abstract: A method for simultaneously slicing a multiplicity of wafers from a substantially circular-cylindrical workpiece that is connected to a sawing strip includes executing a relative movement between the workpiece and a wire gang of a wire saw with the aid of a forward feed device with a defined forward feed rate so as to slice the wafers. The forward feed rate is varied through the course of the method and includes being set to a value v1 at a cutting depth of 50% of the workpiece diameter. Subsequently, the forward feed rate is to a value v2>1.15×v1 as the forward feed rate passes through a local maximum. The forward feed rate is set to a value v3<v1 when the wire gang first comes into contact with the sawing strip. The forward feed rate is increased to a value v5>v3.

Abstract: Provided is an apparatus for slicing an ingot. The apparatus for slicing the ingot includes a mounting part on which the ingot is mounted, a wire saw disposed under the mounting part, a slurry supply part supplying slurry from an upper side of the wire saw, and a slurry blocking part disposed on the mounting part. The slurry blocking part includes a fixing part coupled to one side of the mounting part and a slurry collection part to which a central portion thereof is coupled to a lower portion of the fixing part.

Abstract: An apparatus, a system and a method may use a diamond-impregnated wire loop to cut an underwater pipeline. The apparatus may have a frame, a carriage attached to the frame and/or pulleys connected to the carriage. The diamond-impregnated wire loop may be connected to the pulleys. The carriage may move relative to the frame to direct the diamond-impregnated wire loop in a forward direction relative to the frame and/or through the pipeline.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method of cutting a workpiece efficiently with high accuracy by utilizing tension adjusters to approximate tension in a wire in a wire saw to a predetermined target tension while effectively reducing only tension in a winder-side wire. The method comprises a forward-driven cutting step of cutting a workpiece while moving a wire forward, a first switching step of reversing a driving direction of the wire, a backward-driven cutting step of cutting the workpiece while moving the wire backward, and a second switching step of reversing a driving direction of the wire and returning to the forward-driven cutting step, the steps being repeated in this order. In both switching steps, only tension in a winder-side wire is reduced by tension manipulators. A reduction in target wire tension therefor is performed after completion of deceleration of the wire in each switching step.

Abstract: The present invention provides a wiresaw cutting method comprising cutting a workpiece with a wiresaw while applying an aqueous cutting fluid to the wiresaw from a recirculating reservoir of cutting fluid, monitoring at least one of a chemical property, a physical property, or both, and adjusting the chemical composition of the cutting fluid while cutting the workpiece to maintain the property being monitored. The present invention additionally provides an apparatus to perform the inventive method.

Abstract: The present invention provides a wire saw which cuts a workpiece using a cutting wire and is capable of adjusting wire tension with high responsiveness. The wire saw includes first and second workpiece cutting units 1A and 1B. Each of the workpiece cutting units 1A and 1B includes a pair of guide rollers 10a and 10b around which a wire W is wound to form a workpiece-cutting wire group. The wire saw further includes a tension detector 18 which detects tension in the wire W between the workpiece cutting units 1A and 1B, and a control device 50. The control device 50 changes a rotational speed of the guide rollers 10a and 10b of at least one of the workpiece cutting units based on the tension detected by the tension detector 18 so as to keep the tension within an acceptable range.

Abstract: A method for slicing a workpiece includes: imparting axial reciprocating motion to a wire wound around a plurality of grooved rollers, the wire including bonded abrasive grains; and pressing the workpiece against the reciprocating wire and feeding the workpiece while supplying a machining liquid to the wire to slice the workpiece into wafers, wherein the workpiece is sliced while repeating a process in which the workpiece is fed in a feed direction by a feed amount of 5 mm or more but no more than 30 mm and then reversed in a direction opposite to the feed direction by a reverse amount which is equal to or more than a quarter of the feed amount, less than the feed amount, and equal to or less than 1/15 of a length of the workpiece in the feed direction. The method can improve the quality of sliced workpiece, particularly nanotopography.

Abstract: The present invention provides a self-cleaning wiresaw cutting apparatus including a cleaning mechanism adapted to clean the components of the wiresaw before, during, or after a cutting process or to humidify the cutting region of the apparatus. The apparatus contains at least one dispenser adapted to dispense an aqueous fluid onto various components of the wiresaw.

Abstract: A method for slicing a plurality of wafers from a crystal includes providing a crystal of semiconductor material having a longitudinal axis, a cross section and at least one pulling edge. The crystal is fixed on a table and guided through a wire gang defined by sawing wire so as to form the wafers. The guiding is provided by a relative movement between the table and the wire gang such that entry sawing or exit sawing using the sawing wire occurs in a vicinity of the at least one pulling edge of the crystal.

Abstract: An apparatus, a system and a method may use a diamond-impregnated wire loop to cut an underwater pipeline. The apparatus may have a frame, a carriage attached to the frame and/or pulleys connected to the carriage. The diamond-impregnated wire loop may be connected to the pulleys. The carriage may move relative to the frame to direct the diamond-impregnated wire loop in a forward direction relative to the frame and/or through the pipeline.

Abstract: A holding assembly is formed of a base having two primary support edges and two locking fingers. A cutting assembly is formed of a platform, a cutting band, and a plurality of rollers rotatable with respect to the platform for guiding the cutting band in a path of travel above the base. An advancement assembly is formed of rails coupled to and extending upwardly from the base. Slide blocks extend downwardly from the platform for advancing the platform and cutting band. Control components include pneumatic pivot pistons mounted on the base operable to move the fingers between operative and inoperative orientations, a pneumatic advancement piston for advancing and retracting the platform, and a hydraulic motor for rotating a roller to move the cutting band.

Abstract: Methods, wires, and apparatus for use in cutting (e.g., slicing) hard, brittle materials is provided. The wire can be a super-abrasive wire that includes a wire core and super-abrasive particles bonded to the wire core via a metal bonding layer. This wire, or another type of wire, can be used to slice workpieces useful for producing wafers. The workpieces can be aligned within a holder to produce wafers using the device and methods presently provided. The holder rotates about its central axis, which translates to workpieces moving in orbit around this axis. A single abrasive wire, or multiple turns of wire stretched tightly between wire guides, is then contacted with the rotating holder to slice the workpieces.

Abstract: Methods, wires, and apparatus for use in cutting (e.g., slicing) hard, brittle materials is provided. The wire can be a super-abrasive wire that includes a wire core and super-abrasive particles bonded to the wire core via a metal bonding layer. This wire, or another type of wire, can be used to slice workpieces useful for producing wafers. The workpieces can be aligned within a holder to produce wafers using the device and methods presently provided. The holder rotates about its central axis, which translates to workpieces moving in orbit around this axis. A single abrasive wire, or multiple turns of wire stretched tightly between wire guides, is then contacted with the rotating holder to slice the workpieces.

Abstract: Provided is a single crystal ingot sawing apparatus. The single crystal ingot sawing apparatus includes a wire saw configured to slice an ingot, a roller for configured to drive the wire saw, and a slurry bath for configured to receive slurry supplied onto the wire saw.

Abstract: A method for slicing wafers from a workpiece includes providing wire guide rolls each having a grooved coating with a specific thickness and providing rings at opposing ends of a first of the coatings of a respective wire guide roll. The rings are fixed exclusively to the first coating. A sawing wire including wire sections disposed in a parallel fashion is tensioned between the wire guide rolls. The wire sections of the sawing wire are moved relative to the workpiece so as to perform a sawing operation. A change in length of the first coating, brought about by a temperature change, is measured by measuring distances between sensors and the rings. The wire guide rolls are cooled in a manner dependent on the measured distances.

Abstract: A method of conducting a cutting operation on a workpiece including providing an abrasive article having a substrate having an elongated body, a tacking layer overlying the substrate, and a first type of abrasive particle contained in the tacking layer, the method further including moving the abrasive article and a workpiece relative to each other, the workpiece including a material selected from the group consisting of a ceramic, a semiconductive material, an insulating material, a glass, a natural material, organic material, and a combination thereof.

Abstract: A method resumes an interrupted process for sawing a workpiece into wafers using a wire saw that includes advancing a wire web into existing sawing kerfs of the workpiece with a forward movement of the sawing wire with a first speed in the presence of a liquid sawing medium until the wire web or workpiece has reached a position corresponding to the interruption of the wire sawing process. The sawing wire is moved in defined time intervals by a forward movement of a particular length with a second speed and a backward movement of another length with a third speed, where the backward length is less than the forward length and the forward and backward movement correspond to a cycle. The wire length that is unwound during the forward movements is increased until the length during the forward movement corresponds to the length of the forward movement before the interruption.

Abstract: A sawing wire (100,110,120,130) with abrasive particles (20) is presented wherein the particles (20) are partly embedded in said a metallic core (14) and partly in said an organic binder layer (30). The advantage of the wire (100,110,120,130) is that the application of a metallic binder layer (30) can be avoided. Metallic binder layers add to the cost of a fixed abrasive sawing wire and in many cases pose health and safety problems which can be avoided by the use of an organic binder layer. Moreover the advantages of a good fixture of the abrasive particles in the metallic wire are maintained. Different embodiments are presented with different degrees of embedment into the metal wire.

Abstract: A saw wire includes a steel wire (11) having a steel strand (11a) with predetermined composition, an abrasive (13) fixed to the steel wire (11) by a fixing part (12), and an intermetallic compound (15) on an interface between the abrasive (13) and the fixing part (12). Tensile strength of the steel strand (11) is 3500 MPa or more, and the fixing part (12) includes a Sn-based solder containing Zn or Ag.

Abstract: Wire for cutting feedstock and a method for cutting feedstock with the wire. The wire may include an iron based alloy comprising at least 35 at % iron, nickel and/or cobalt in the range of about 7 to 50 at %, at least one non-metal or metalloid selected from the group consisting of boron, carbon, silicon, phosphorus, and/or nitrogen present in the range of about 1 to 35 at %, and one metal selected from the group consisting of copper, titanium, molybdenum, aluminum, and/or chromium present in the range of about 0 to 25 at %, wherein the wire has an aspect ratio of greater than one and exhibits metallic and/or crystalline phases of less than 500 nm in size.

Abstract: An apparatus, a system and a method may use a diamond-impregnated wire loop to cut an underwater pipeline. The apparatus may have a frame, a carriage attached to the frame and/or pulleys connected to the carriage. The diamond-impregnated wire loop may be connected to the pulleys. The carriage may move relative to the frame to direct the diamond-impregnated wire loop in a forward direction relative to the frame and/or through the pipeline.

Abstract: The invention provides a method and apparatus for removing magnetic or magnetized contaminants from a wiresaw cutting slurry during a wiresaw cutting process. The apparatus comprises a recirculating slurry dispensing system that defines the slurry flow pathway. The recirculating dispensing slurry system comprises a magnetic separator for removing magnetic or magnetizable contaminants from the slurry, wherein the purified slurry is discharged back into recirculation within the recirculating slurry dispensing system.

Abstract: A method for simultaneously slicing a multiplicity of wafers from a substantially circular-cylindrical workpiece that is connected to a sawing strip includes executing a relative movement between the workpiece and a wire gang of a wire saw with the aid of a forward feed device with a defined forward feed rate so as to slice the wafers. The forward feed rate is varied through the course of the method and includes being set to a value v1 at a cutting depth of 50% of the workpiece diameter. Subsequently, the forward feed rate is to a value v2>1.15×v1 as the forward feed rate passes through a local maximum. The forward feed rate is set to a value v3<v1 when the wire gang first comes into contact with the sawing strip. The forward feed rate is increased to a value v5>v3.

Abstract: A fret saw includes a cutting wire and fixed abrasive grains provided on the cutting wire by electroplating. Each of the fixed abrasive grains includes a core and a hard film coated on the core. The core is 1 to 60 micrometers in diameter. The core is made of a material selected from the group consisting of a Ti metal and a Ti alloy. The hard film is 1 to 40 micrometers thick. The hard film covers about 30% to 90% of the surface of the core.

Abstract: The invention is directed to a method for slicing an ingot in the form of a wafer by winding a wire around a plurality of grooved rollers and pressing the wire against the ingot while making the wire travel and supplying slicing slurry to the grooved rollers, in which when the ingot is sliced, an amount of displacement of the ingot changing in an axial direction is measured and an amount of axial displacement of the grooved rollers is controlled so as to correspond to the measured amount of axial displacement of the ingot, and thereby, the ingot is sliced while controlling a relative position of the wire relative to an entire length of the ingot changing in the axial direction. As a result, a slicing method and a wire saw apparatus are provided that can perform slicing in such a way that a Bow or a Warp in a wafer obtained by slicing can be reduced, for example, by controlling a slicing path built into an ingot so that, in particular, the slicing path becomes flattened.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide at a relatively cheap price a wire saw device capable of effectively preventing slurry from splashing onto the top surface of a work and effectively suppressing increase in nanotopography and Warp. The wire saw device 1 of the present invention has: a group of multiple wires 4 formed by suspending a wire 3 over a set of rollers 2, 2, 2 separate from each other so as to be aligned in a cutting side thereof in parallel to one another in the roller shaft direction X and capable of running in a direction orthogonal to the roller shaft direction; a work holding portion 5 for holding a work W and moving the work W in a direction of pushing the work W with respect to the group of multiple wires 4; and a nozzle 6 for supplying slurry to the group of multiple wires 4 from at least a position on the upperstream side in the running direction of the multiple wires 4, with respect to a path along which the work W is pushed into the wire 3.

Abstract: A wire saw apparatus having: a wire wound around grooved rollers and axially travels in a reciprocating direction; a nozzle for supplying a slurry; and a work-feeding mechanism feeding a work toward the wire, and slicing into wafers by pressing and feeding the work against the wire traveling in a reciprocating direction while a slurry is supplied to the wire through the nozzle. A work-holding portion holds the work through a pad plate adhered to the work and a work plate, plate-shaped or block-shaped slurry-splash-blocking members are arranged in the direction of a right angle to a row of the wire wound around the grooved rollers below the work-holding portion and on both the wire cut-in side and a wire cut-out side.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a wire and a method of forming a wire including an iron based glass forming alloy including iron present in the range of 43.0 to 68.0 atomic percent, boron present in the range of 12.0 to 19.0 atomic percent, nickel present in the range of 15.0 to 17.0 atomic percent, cobalt present in the range of 2.0 to 21.0 atomic percent, optionally carbon present in the range of 0.1 to 6.0 atomic percent and optionally silicon present in the range of 0.4 to 4.0 atomic percent, wherein said wire has a thickness of 140 ?m or less and wherein said wire includes spinodal glass matrix microconstituents. The wire may be used in abrading a substrate.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method of cutting a workpiece efficiently with high accuracy by utilizing tension adjusters to approximate tension in a wire in a wire saw to a predetermined target tension while effectively reducing only tension in a winder-side wire. The method comprises a forward-driven cutting step of cutting a workpiece while moving a wire forward, a first switching step of reversing a driving direction of the wire, a backward-driven cutting step of cutting the workpiece while moving the wire backward, and a second switching step of reversing a driving direction of the wire and returning to the forward-driven cutting step, the steps being repeated in this order. In both switching steps, only tension in a winder-side wire is reduced by tension manipulators. A reduction in target wire tension therefor is performed after completion of deceleration of the wire in each switching step.

Abstract: The present invention provides a wire saw which cuts a workpiece using a cutting wire and is capable of adjusting wire tension with high responsiveness. The wire saw includes first and second workpiece cutting units 1A and 1B. Each of the workpiece cutting units 1A and 1B includes a pair of guide rollers 10a and 10b around which a wire W is wound to form a workpiece-cutting wire group. The wire saw further includes a tension detector 18 which detects tension in the wire W between the workpiece cutting units 1A and 1B, and a control device 50. The control device 50 changes a rotational speed of the guide rollers 10a and 10b of at least one of the workpiece cutting units based on the tension detected by the tension detector 18 so as to keep the tension within an acceptable range.

Abstract: The present invention is a band saw cutting apparatus including: a cutting table on which an ingot is horizontally placed; an endless-belt blade provided in a tensioned state between pulleys, the blade having a blade-abrasive-grain portion and a blade base; and a coolant spraying opening for spraying a coolant on the blade, the band saw cutting apparatus cutting the ingot by relatively feeding the blade from above to below, the blade being driven to rotate by rotating the pulleys, wherein the pulleys is configured to be rotatable about an axis thereof in both directions, and a direction of driving to rotate the blade can be changed to cut the ingot. As a result, there is provided a band saw cutting apparatus and an ingot cutting method that can stably secure the quality of the ingot to be cut, increase the lifetime of the blade, and improve the productivity.

Abstract: The present invention is a slicing method and a wire saw apparatus including winding a wire around a plurality of grooved rollers and pressing the wire against an ingot to be sliced into wafers while supplying a slurry for slicing to the grooved rollers and causing the wire to travel in a reciprocating direction, in which the ingot is sliced with controlling a temperature of the ingot by supplying a slurry for adjusting an ingot temperature to the ingot independently from the slurry for slicing while the slurry for adjusting an ingot temperature is supplied to the ingot only at the exit side of the wire caused to travel in the reciprocating direction. As a result, there is provided a method and a wire saw apparatus in which rapid cooling of an ingot especially in a time close to end of slicing of the ingot can be alleviated, consequently degradation of a nano-topography can be suppressed, and further high-quality wafers having a uniform thickness can be sliced when slicing the ingot by using a wire saw.

Abstract: An integrated wafer processing system and a method thereof is disclosed. In one embodiment, a wafer stack of sliced wafers includes a base, and a plurality of sliced wafers extending outwardly from the base, where the plurality of sliced wafers are obtained by slicing a portion of a work piece, where the base is an uncut portion which is the remaining portion of the work piece or a plate attached by welding to the plurality of sliced wafers and where the work piece is mono-crystalline or multi-crystalline silicon. Further, the wafer stack of sliced wafers are treated in-situ in cleaning and wet chemical tanks for processes such as damage etching, texturization and oxide etching and also treated in-situ in high temperature furnaces for processes such as diffusion and anti-reflection coating.

Abstract: The present invention is a method for slicing a workpiece into wafers by pressing a cylindrical workpiece held with a workpiece holder against a wire row formed by a wire spirally wound between a plurality of wire guides and making the wire travel while supplying a slurry to a contact portion between the workpiece and the wire, wherein the workpiece is sliced with an axis direction of the workpiece inclined with respect to a plane formed by the wire row, after the workpiece is inclined in such a manner that a side far from the wire row plane is a side where the wire guides are to be axially expanded. As a result, there is provided a method for slicing that enable wafers having a good Warp shape to be obtained by precisely slicing a workpiece with a wire saw.

Abstract: In a wire saw that serves for cutting polygonal, columnar bricks out of an ingot of a generally inorganic crystalline material, more particularly a semiconductor material, a cutting yoke (5) having at least two angularly offset saw wire fields is provided that is displaceable in the saw feed direction (7). The yoke is coupled to a carrier (38) by means of an assembly of two rails (40, 42). In this manner, the yoke (5) is easily removable from the process chamber (1) of the wire saw by pulling one rail (42) out of the other rail (40) in order to perform maintenance operations etc. The saw wire in the cutting yoke (5) is guided in an essentially meander-shaped path so that the cutting wire essentially only extends in the wire fields (sections 14, 16) and on the sides of the frame (20) of the cutting yoke (5).

Abstract: A method and apparatus of cutting and cleaning wafers in a wire saw is disclosed. In one embodiment, a wire sawing apparatus includes a horizontal ingot feeding wire slicing apparatus which includes a vertical wire web, in which sawing wires of the vertical wire web are located substantially in a vertical plane and move in a substantially vertical direction, a first top outlet and a second top outlet located in a top position with respect to a work piece for applying fluids during sawing, and at least one chute located substantially below the work piece for receiving the fluids, wherein the work piece is impelled against the vertical wire web by horizontal movement and the fluids flow in a vertical direction against and into the work piece for slicing and cleaning wafers.

Abstract: A method and a device for cutting a workpiece (1, 21) in a wire saw is described, wherein a workpiece (1, 21) is fixed in a wire saw by means of a mounting beam (2, 22). In the method according to the invention, the generation of a mark or a step on the cutting area along the cutting slit at the transition from the workpiece to the mounting beam (2, 22) is moved further to the edge of the cutting area or is avoided entirely. Therefore, the workpiece (1, 21) is held during the cutting operation in the wire saw by a mounting beam (2, 22) such that while one of the two piercing points (9; 29) lies on the surface of the workpiece (1, 21) and while simultaneously the other (10; 30) of the two piercing points (9, 10; 29, 30) lies on the surface of the mounting beam (2; 22), the piercing point lying on the surface of the workpiece is the entry side piercing point.