A method cuts slices from workpieces using a wire saw having a wire array, which is tensioned in a plane between two wire guide rollers supported between fixed and floating bearings and having a chamber and a shell. The workpiece is fed through the wire array along a feed direction perpendicular to a workpiece axis, while simultaneously changing the shells' lengths by adjusting a temperature of the chambers with a first cooling fluid in accordance with a first correction profile specifying a change in the shells' lengths based on the depth of cut. The floating bearings are simultaneously axially moved by adjusting a temperature of the fixed bearings with a second cooling fluid in accordance with a second correction profile, which specifies a travel of the floating bearings based on the depth of cut. The first correction profile and the second correction profile are opposed to a shape deviation.

Slices are cut from workpieces during a sequence of cut-off operations by a wire saw, having a wire array. The wire array is tensioned in a plane between two wire guide rollers supported between fixed and floating bearings. During each cut-off operation, a workpiece is fed through the wire array perpendicular to a workpiece axis and the wire array plane. The workpiece is fed with simultaneous axial movement of the floating bearings by adjusting a temperature of the fixed bearings in correlation with a first correction profile, which specifies a travel of the floating bearings in dependence on the depth of cut. In dependence on the depth of cut, operating parameters are set, such as the feed rate, an amount of working fluid fed to the wire array per unit time, a temperature of the working fluid, a wire speed, a wire consumption per cut-off operation, or a wire tension.

A dividing apparatus is provided with a second camera that forms a second image to be used for determining whether or not a wafer is divided at a first projected dicing line. That is, in the dividing apparatus, whether or not the wafer is divided at the first projected dicing line can be checked in reference to the second image. Hence, in the dividing apparatus, even in a case where part of the wafer remains at the first projected dicing line and the wafer is not divided, a dividing unit can be operated again to divide the wafer at the first projected dicing line. Consequently, in the dividing apparatus, the wafer can reliably be divided at the first projected dicing line.

A method for processing a silicon wafer, the method including cutting an ingot to form a wafer, extracting from measured shape data a cross-sectional profile, the cross-sectional profile passing through the center of the wafer and being aligned with a cutting direction of an ingot, interpolating the shape data with a fixed and pre-determined step size, fitting a first second-degree polynomial to the cross-sectional profile, determining a residual profile by subtracting the polynomial from the cross-sectional profile, fitting a second second-degree polynomial to the residual profile using a sliding window of pre-determined width to determine a position, height, and curvature of each peak and valley of the residual profile, determining a waviness parameter based on the position, height, and curvature of each peak and valley of the residual profile, and further processing the wafer based on the waviness parameter and a predetermined waviness threshold.

A processing apparatus includes a holding table for holding a workpiece, a cutting unit including a spindle and a mount, a blade changer unit for mounting a cutting blade on or dismounting a cutting blade from the mount, and a control unit. The blade changer unit includes a blade chuck for holding the cutting blade and a moving unit. The cutting unit includes a vibration detecting sensor. The control unit includes a calculator for calculating the central axis of the mount from a position where the vibration detecting sensor detects vibrations caused upon contact between the mount and the blade chuck, and a mounting/dismounting controller for aligning the central axis of the blade chuck with the central axis of the mount and mounting the cutting blade on and dismounting cutting blade from the mount.

A peeling apparatus includes a holding table that holds an ingot, a water supply unit that forms a layer of water on an upper surface of the ingot, an ultrasonic unit that applies an ultrasonic wave to the upper surface of the ingot through the layer of water, a peeling confirmation unit that confirms peeling-off of a wafer to be manufactured, a wafer delivery unit that lowers a suction pad having a suction surface facing the upper surface of the ingot, to hold the wafer to be manufactured on the suction surface under suction, and delivers the wafer from the ingot, and a controller. After the peeling-off of the wafer is confirmed by the peeling confirmation unit, the controller positions the water supply unit, the ultrasonic unit, and the peeling confirmation unit at retracted positions and operates the wafer delivery unit to deliver the wafer from the ingot.

Methods and systems for imaging and cutting semiconductor wafers and other microelectronic device substrates are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a system for singulating microelectronic devices from a substrate includes an X-ray imaging system having an X-ray source spaced apart from an X-ray detector. The X-ray source can emit a beam of X-rays through the substrate and onto the X-ray detector, and X-ray detector can generate an X-ray image of at least a portion of the substrate. A method in accordance with another embodiment includes detecting spacing information for irregularly spaced dies of a semiconductor workpiece. The method can further include automatically controlling a process for singulating the dies of the semiconductor workpiece, based at least in part on the spacing information. For example, individual dies can be singulated from a workpiece via non-straight line cuts and/or multiple cutter passes.

A cutting apparatus includes a cutting unit that has a spindle with an annular cutting blade mounted to a tip part of the spindle through a blade mount, and a determining unit. The determining unit has a second flow path that is connected to a first flow path in a mounter of the blade mount for causing a negative or positive pressure to act on the first flow path, a measuring device that obtains a measured value of at least one of a pressure and a flow rate in the second flow path, and a screw-engaged state determining section that determines that a screw-engaged state of a fixed nut with a boss section of the mounter where the cutting blade is disposed is defective in a case where the measured value when the negative or positive pressure acts on the first flow path indicates an abnormal value.

A silicon carbide wafer manufacturing method includes: a bending measuring step of measuring a first edge having the greatest degree of a bending at one surface of a silicon carbide ingot having one surface; a cutting start step of starting a cutting at a second edge having a distance of r×a along an edge of the one surface from the first edge in a direction parallel to or with a predetermined off angle with respect to the one surface through the wire saw, a cutting speed being decreased to a first cutting speed in the cutting start step; a cutting proceeding step in which the first cutting speed is substantially constant within a variation of about ±5% of the first cutting speed; and a finish step in which the cutting speed is increased from the first cutting speed and the cutting of the silicon carbide ingot is completed.

There is provided a blade replacing apparatus for replacing a cutting blade. The blade replacing apparatus includes a blade storage unit including a movable storage section configured to store the cutting blade, a transporting unit including a holding unit configured to hold the cutting blade and a moving mechanism configured to move the holding unit, a camera configured to photograph the holding unit, and a control unit including an operation control section configured to control operation of the blade storage unit and the transporting unit and a position registration section in which positions of the storage section and the holding unit. The storage section includes a first mark portion photographable by the camera, and the holding unit includes a second mark portion photographable by the camera.