A method for manufacturing an ingot block in which an ingot of a silicon single crystal pulled up by a Czochralski process is cut and subjected to outer periphery grinding to manufacture an ingot block of the silicon single crystal, the method including: a step of measuring a radial center position of the ingot at one or more locations along a longitudinal direction of the ingot, a step of setting a reference position at which an offset amount of the measured radial center position of the ingot is equal to or less than a predetermined eccentricity amount, a step of cutting the ingot into the ingot blocks based on the set reference position, and a step of performing outer periphery grinding on each of the cut ingot blocks.

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 cutting apparatus includes a blade changing unit demounting an old cutting blade from a blade mount and mounting a new cutting blade to the blade mount. The blade changing unit includes a blade holder for holding a support base of each cutting blade and a moving portion for moving the blade holder in the axial direction of a boss portion of the blade mount in the condition where each cutting blade is held by the blade holder, thereby mounting the new cutting blade to the boss portion or demounting the old cutting blade from the boss portion. The cutting apparatus further includes a control unit controlling the blade changing unit. The control unit measures a signal indicating a force applied to the moving portion in mounting or demounting, and determines the condition of the blade changing unit and blade mount according to the signal measured by the measuring portion.

A cleaving system employs a shaper, a positioner, an internal preparation system, an external preparation system, a cleaver, and a cropper to cleave a workpiece into cleaved pieces. The shaper shapes a workpiece into a defined geometric shape. The positioner then positions the workpiece such that the internal preparation system can generate a separation layer at the cleaving plane. The internal preparation system focuses a laser beam internal to the workpiece at a focal point and scans the focal point across the cleaving plane to create the separation layer. The external preparation system scores the external surface of the workpiece at a location coincident with the separation layer. The cleaver cleaves the workpiece by propagating the crack on the external surface along the separation layer. The cropper shapes the cleaved piece into a geometric shape as needed.

A cleaving system employs a shaper, a positioner, an internal preparation system, an external preparation system, a cleaver, and a cropper to cleave a workpiece into cleaved pieces. The shaper shapes a workpiece into a defined geometric shape. The positioner then positions the workpiece such that the internal preparation system can generate a separation layer at the cleaving plane. The internal preparation system focuses a laser beam internal to the workpiece at a focal point and scans the focal point across the cleaving plane to create the separation layer. The external preparation system scores the external surface of the workpiece at a location coincident with the separation layer. The cleaver cleaves the workpiece by propagating the crack on the external surface along the separation layer. The cropper shapes the cleaved piece into a geometric shape as needed.

The present application provides a residual material removing device, method and system, in which the residual material removing device includes: a loading platform configured to support a material to be cut; a fixing plate abutting against an upper surface of the material to be cut is configured to fix the material to be cut, and one end of the fixing plate is in contact with a residual material in the material to be cut; a first pressing portion in contact with one end of the fixing plate is configured to apply pressing force to one end of the fixing plate to separate the residual material from the material to be cut under the action of the pressing force.

Cleave systems for separating bonded wafer structures, mountable cleave monitoring systems and methods for separating bonded wafer structures are disclosed. In some embodiments, the sound emitted from a bonded wafer structure is sensed during cleaving and a metric related to an attribute of the cleave is generated. The generated metric may be used for quality control and/or to adjust a cleave control parameter to improve the quality of the cleave of subsequently cleaved bonded wafer structures.

A cleaving system employs a shaper, a positioner, an internal preparation system, an external preparation system, a cleaver, and a cropper to cleave a workpiece into cleaved pieces. The shaper shapes a workpiece into a defined geometric shape. The positioner then positions the workpiece such that the internal preparation system can generate a separation layer at the cleaving plane. The internal preparation system focuses a laser beam internal to the workpiece at a focal point and scans the focal point across the cleaving plane to create the separation layer. The external preparation system scores the external surface of the workpiece at a location coincident with the separation layer. The cleaver cleaves the workpiece by propagating the crack on the external surface along the separation layer. The cropper shapes the cleaved piece into a geometric shape as needed.

A method of producing a wafer includes forming a peel-off layer in a hexagonal single-crystal ingot by applying a laser beam having a wavelength transmittable through the ingot while positioning a focal point of the laser beam in the ingot at a depth corresponding to the thickness of a wafer to be produced from an end face of the ingot, generating ultrasonic waves from an ultrasonic wave generating unit positioned in facing relation to the wafer to be produced across a water layer interposed therebetween, thereby to break the peel-off layer, and detecting when the wafer to be produced is peeled off the ingot based on a change that is detected in the height of an upper surface of the wafer to be produced by a height detecting unit positioned above the upper surface of the wafer to be produced across the water wafer interposed therebetween.

A cutting apparatus includes a cutting unit cutting a workpiece held on a chuck table, a processing-feed unit moving the chuck table, a moving unit moving the cutting unit, and a delivery pad delivering the workpiece to be cut to the chuck table and delivering the workpiece that has been cut on the chuck table. The delivery pad is mountable on and detachable from the moving unit, holds the workpiece under suction while being mounted on the moving unit, and delivers the workpiece by being moved by the moving unit while holding the workpiece under suction.