An ultrasonic peening-type integrated machining method for cutting and extrusion includes: applying transverse ultrasonic vibration or a vibration component, which is vertical to a cutting speed direction to a cutting tool on a machine tool; setting a cutting parameter and an ultrasonic vibration parameter such that a dynamic negative clearance angle is generated in a cutting procedure and a flank face of the cutting tool conducts ultrasonic peening extrusion on the surface of the workpiece; setting an extrusion overlap ratio; setting a wear standard of flank faces extruded by the cutting tool; controlling a vibration cutting trajectory phase difference of the cutting tool during two adjacent rotations; and turning on the machine tool in order to ensure that cutting and surface extrusion strengthening of the workpiece are completed in one procedure without separate strengthening procedures. The method conducts extrusion strengthening on the surface of the workpiece while cutting the workpiece.

A wafer producing method for producing a wafer from an ingot, the ingot being previously formed with a separation layer along which the wafer is to be separated from the ingot. The wafer producing method includes a first ultrasonic vibration applying step of applying ultrasonic vibration to a given area of the ingot at a high density to thereby form a partially broken portion where a part of the separation layer is broken, a second ultrasonic vibration applying step of applying the ultrasonic vibration to the whole area of the ingot larger than the given area at a low density, after performing the first ultrasonic vibration applying step, thereby forming a fully broken portion where the separation layer is fully broken in such a manner that breaking starts from the partially broken portion, and a separating step of separating the wafer from the ingot along the fully broken portion.

Implementations of a method of singulating a plurality of die from a semiconductor substrate may include: forming a damage layer beneath a surface of a die street where the die street connects a plurality of semiconductor die formed on a semiconductor substrate. The method may include mounting the semiconductor substrate to a support tape, exposing the semiconductor substrate to sonic energy using a sonic energy source, and singulating the plurality of die at the damage layer using the sonic energy.

Implementations of methods of thinning a semiconductor substrate may include: providing a semiconductor substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposing the first surface, the semiconductor substrate having a thickness between the first surface and the second surface. The method may further include inducing damage into a portion of the semiconductor substrate at a first depth into the thickness forming a first damage layer, inducing damage into a portion of the semiconductor substrate at a second depth into the thickness forming a second damage layer, and applying ultrasonic energy to the semiconductor substrate. The method may include separating the semiconductor substrate into three separate thinned portions across the thickness along the first damage layer and along the second damage layer.

A method of producing a wafer includes a peel-off layer forming step to form a peel-off layer in a hexagonal single-crystal ingot by applying a laser beam having a wavelength transmittable through the hexagonal single-crystal ingot while positioning a focal point of the laser beam in the hexagonal single-crystal ingot at a depth corresponding to the thickness of a wafer to be produced from an end face of the hexagonal single-crystal ingot, an ultrasonic wave generating step to generate 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 a peel-off detecting step to detect when the wafer to be produced is peeled off the hexagonal single-crystal ingot by positioning an image capturing unit sideways of the wafer to be produced.

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 wafer producing method of producing a wafer from a hexagonal single crystal ingot, the method including positioning a focal point of a laser beam of such a wavelength as to be transmitted through the hexagonal single crystal ingot at a depth corresponding to a thickness of a wafer to be produced from an end face of the hexagonal single crystal ingot and applying the laser beam to the hexagonal single crystal ingot to form a separation layer, positioning an ultrasonic wave generating unit so as to face the wafer to be produced with a layer of water interposed therebetween and generating an ultrasonic wave through the layer of water to break down the separation layer, and detecting separation of the wafer to be produced from the hexagonal single crystal ingot according to change in sound.

A processing apparatus includes: a holding unit that holds a workpiece; a processing mechanism that processes the workpiece held by the holding unit; a processing liquid supplying mechanism that supplies a processing liquid containing an oxidizing agent to at least the workpiece held by the holding unit at the time of processing the workpiece by the processing means; a processing waste liquid recovery section that recovers a processing waste liquid containing the processing liquid supplied from the processing liquid supplying mechanism to the workpiece; a discharge passage through which the processing waste liquid is discharged from the processing waste liquid recovery section to the outside of the processing apparatus; and a waste liquid treatment mechanism that is disposed in the discharge passage and that decomposes the processing liquid contained in the processing waste liquid while the processing waste liquid flows through the discharge passage.

A peeling apparatus includes: an ingot holding unit holding an ingot with an ingot portion corresponding to a wafer being faced up; an ultrasonic wave oscillating unit which has an end face facing the ingot portion corresponding to the wafer and oscillates an ultrasonic wave; a water supplying unit supplying water to an area between the ingot portion corresponding to the wafer and the end face of the ultrasonic wave oscillating unit; and a peeling unit that holds the ingot portion corresponding to the wafer with suction and peels off the wafer from the ingot.

A semiconductor substrate manufacturing method includes: epitaxially growing a columnar III nitride semiconductor single crystal on a principal place of a circular substrate; removing a hollow cylindrical region at an outer peripheral edge side of the III nitride semiconductor single crystal to leave a solid columnar region at an inside of the hollow cylindrical region of the III nitride semiconductor single crystal; and slicing the solid columnar region after removing the hollow cylindrical region. The hollow cylindrical region is removed such that the shape of the III nitride semiconductor single crystal is always keeps an axial symmetry that a center axis of the III nitride semiconductor single crystal is defined as a symmetric axis.