A wafer producing apparatus detects a facet area from an upper surface of an SiC ingot, sets X and Y coordinates of plural points lying on a boundary between the facet area and a nonfacet area in an XY plane, and sets a focal point of a laser beam having a transmission wavelength to SiC inside the SiC ingot at a predetermined depth from the upper surface of the SiC ingot. The predetermined depth corresponds to the thickness of the SiC wafer to be produced. A control unit increases the energy of the laser beam and raises a position of the focal point in applying the laser beam to the facet area as compared with the energy of the laser beam and a position of the focal point in applying the laser beam to the nonfacet area, according to the X and Y coordinates.

A cutting apparatus is provided. The cutting apparatus includes a processing chamber, a chuck table, a transferring mechanism, and a cleaning member. The chuck table is disposed in the processing chamber and configured to hold a workpiece on a chuck surface of the chuck table during a cutting process. The transferring mechanism is configured to transfer the workpiece to the chuck surface before the cutting process or transfer the workpiece away from the chuck surface after the cutting process. The cleaning member is disposed in the processing chamber, and is configured to move across and clean the chuck surface, driven by the transferring mechanism.

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.

A production method of a wafer includes a wafer production step in which ultrasonic water is ejected against an end face of an ingot with cleavage layers created therein, thereby severing the wafer from a rest of the ingot to produce the wafer.

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.

A cutting apparatus for cutting a workpiece includes a cutting unit for cutting the workpiece with a cutting blade, a moving unit for moving the cutting unit, a delivery pad for delivering the workpiece, and a counterbalance assembly connected to the delivery pad, for applying a pull-up force to the delivery pad. The delivery pad 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.

A wafer producing method includes a facet area detecting step of detecting a facet area from an upper surface of an SiC ingot, a coordinates setting step of setting the X and Y coordinates of plural points lying on the boundary between the facet area and a nonfacet area in an XY plane, and a feeding step of setting a focal point of a laser beam having a transmission wavelength to SiC inside the SiC ingot at a predetermined depth from the upper surface of the SiC ingot, the predetermined depth corresponding to the thickness of the SiC wafer to be produced, next applying the laser beam from a focusing unit in a laser processing apparatus to the SiC ingot, and relatively moving the SiC ingot and the focal point in an X direction parallel to the X axis in the XY plane, thereby forming a belt-shaped separation layer extending in the X direction inside the SiC ingot.

A chuck table holding a frame unit including a workpiece is securely placed in an opening of an annular frame by a tape. A transparent holder having a holding surface holds the workpiece with the tape interposed therebetween. A frame body is erected around and surrounding the holder, the frame body having a plurality of suction holes that are open in an inner circumferential surface of the frame body. The frame body has an inside diameter equal to or smaller than an inside diameter of the annular frame. While an opening of the frame body is being covered by the tape, a suction force is transmitted through the suction holes into the frame body, discharging air from between the tape and the holding surface to bring the tape into intimate contact with the holding surface thereby securing the workpiece of the frame unit to the holding surface.

In order to respond flexibly to various processing modes, such as forming curved surface shapes, when cutting a workpiece using a wire saw, this wire saw device (1) is provided with: a single robot arm (2) that is capable of moving freely by means of multi-axis control; a wire saw unit (3) that is detachably connected to the robot arm (2) via a tool changer (7); a wire (8) that spans a plurality of pulleys supported within the wire saw unit (3); and a workpiece cutting zone (20) that is established between the pulleys. The workpiece is cut to a prescribed shape by moving the robot arm (2) in a preset direction while running the wire (8) of the wire saw unit (3) and pressing the wire (8) against the supported workpiece.

A cutting apparatus for cutting a workpiece includes a cutting unit for cutting the workpiece with a cutting blade, a moving unit for moving the cutting unit, a delivery pad for delivering the workpiece, and a counterbalance assembly connected to the delivery pad, for applying a pull-up force to the delivery pad. The delivery pad 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.