A dividing apparatus divides a workpiece along projected dicing lines into chips, the workpiece being stuck to an upper surface of a protective tape mounted on an annular frame. The dividing apparatus includes a frame holding unit for holding the annular frame and a dividing unit for pressing the workpiece in the vicinity of one at a time of the projected dicing lines and dividing the workpiece into chips along the projected dicing line. The dividing unit includes a holder for holding a portion of the workpiece in the vicinity of the projected dicing line where the workpiece is to be broken, from both upper and lower surfaces of the workpiece, and a presser for pressing chips next to chips held by the holder across the projected dicing line where the workpiece is to be broken, thereby to divide the workpiece along the projected dicing line.

Embodiments of the invention are directed towards apparatus for securing workpieces in a workpiece retention device or clamp. In one embodiment, a workpiece retention tool is described, where the work piece retention tool comprises a clamp assembly and at least two gripping attachments configured to retain the workpiece. The gripping attachments are configured to exert a compressive force of the workpiece. In a particular implementation, the two gripping attachments include base and retention head portions. Here, the retention head portion is further defined with a top portion and a bottom portion defining an inclined gripping surface.

Semiconductor wafers having a subsurface-referenced nanotopography of the upper side surface of less than 6 nm, expressed as a maximum peak-to-valley distance on a subsurface and referenced to subsurfaces with an area content of 25 mm?25 mm, are produced from a workpiece by feeding the workpiece through a wire web tensioned between wire guide rollers and divided into wire groups, the wires producing kerfs as the wires engage the workpiece. For each of the wire groups, a placement error of the kerfs of the wire groups is used to compensate movements of the wires of the wire group as a function of the placement error, in a direction perpendicular to the running direction of the wires during feeding of the workpiece through the arrangement of wires, by activating at least one drive element.

A system and a method for squaring a ingot are provided, the system for squaring a ingot, including: a squaring chamber configured to remove cut edges of the ingot; and a movement stage disposed at one side of the squaring chamber in a first direction, wherein the movement stage is provided with a loading mechanism and a unloading mechanism, the loading mechanism and the unloading mechanism are respectively arranged on two sides of the movement stage opposite to each other in a second direction different from the first direction, and while the unloading mechanism collects the cut edges and removes the ingot after removal of the cut edges, the loading mechanism is configured to transport another ingot to be squared to the squaring chamber.

A slicing method and a slicing apparatus for an ingot are provided. The slicing method for the ingot comprises: setting an ingot on an ingot-feeding device; descending the ingot by the ingot-feeding device and loosening a diamond wire synchronously such that the ingot is surrounded with the diamond wire; and tightening the diamond wire to begin to slice after the ingot is descended to a cooling tank. The slicing method and the slicing apparatus for the ingot of the present disclosure could raise the slicing speed and reduce the temperature difference from a slicing area to a non-slicing area so that the wrap of a silicon chip is improved.

Method for cutting crystal boules using diamond wire, wherein this boule is driven about a main axis, a cutting wire is held taut and driven through a temporary drum immobilising each boule in position with respect to the main axis throughout the entire cutting operation, this temporary drum being made by overmoulding a coating material on at least one boule bonded onto a sacrificial core, the cutting being followed by the slicing of cut rings from which are detached, particularly using heat, crystalline plates with parallel faces.

A blade mounting and dismounting jig is provided for mounting a blade on and dismounting a blade from a flange of a cutting apparatus which includes a boss, a blade mount for mounting the blade fitted thereover, the flange having an annular end face for supporting the blade thereon and being fixed to a distal end of a spindle, and a holder that cooperates with the flange in gripping and securing the blade in position. The blade mounting and dismounting jig includes a cylindrical jig body, a grip coupled to the jig body and having a diameter larger than the jig body, a plurality of first air ejection ports defined in a distal end portion of the jig body, a plurality of second air ejection ports defined in the jig body at a juncture between the jig body and the grip.

A cutting blade mounting method of sandwiching both side surfaces of an annular cutting blade by a first flange and a second flange, the first flange being mounted on an end of a spindle and having a suction hole sucking and holding a side surface of the cutting blade to a sandwiching surface of the first flange, includes: a cutting blade provisional holding step of sucking and holding the cutting blade to the first flange by making the cutting blade abut against the sandwiching surface of the first flange at a perfect circle position at which a center of the cutting blade coincides with an axis of the spindle, and making a suction force act on the suction hole; and a fixing step of fixing the cutting blade maintaining the perfect circle position in the cutting blade provisional holding step to the first flange by the second flange.

A metal wire includes tungsten or a tungsten alloy. When a fatigue test is conducted on the metal wire at a maximum stress of 4400 MPa in accordance with Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) C6821, a total number of cycles required to break the metal wire is at least 20,000 cycles.

A carrying apparatus configured to load and/or unload a brick includes: a main body; a transport support configured to move a brick to a brick cutting apparatus in which an insertion space is formed; a lift arm coupled to an upper end portion of the main body and configured to elevate or descend the transport support; and at least one wire connecting the transport support to the lift arm, where the transport support includes a guide rest connected to the at least one wire, and where the lift arm is configured to descend or elevate the transport support via the at least one wire and align the transport support with an alignment guide of the brick cutting apparatus such that the alignment guide corresponds with the guide rest in a vertical direction.