Nippei Toyama Corporation

Yoshiaki Banzawa

Kiyoakira Shimizu

Nobuaki Hayashi

An apparatus for manufacturing a plurality of wafers by slicing a cylindrical ingot with a wire saw. The apparatus includes a measuring device for measuring the crystal orientation of the ingot; an adhering device for adhering a support to the surface of the ingot based on the orientation where the support includes an intermediate plate and a support plate, where the support plate is adapted to fit the wire saw, and where the adhering device includes an auxiliary adhering element for adhering the intermediate plate to the surface of the ingot and an adhering element for adhering the support plate to the intermediate plate; a dryer for drying and solidifying an adhesive applied between the ingot and the intermediate plate and an adhesive applied between the intermediate plate and the support plate; and the wire saw for slicing the ingot into the plurality of wafers while the ingot is supported on the support. The apparatus may include stockers for storing the ingot and transferring devices for transferring the ingot within the apparatus.

System and method for processing ingots

An apparatus for connecting a cylindrical ingot to a support plate includes means for measuring a crystal orientation of the ingot based on a diffraction of x-rays, means for rotating the ingot about a center axis based on the crystal orientation so that a center axis of the ingot is held parallel to a first plane and an orientation axis based on the crystal orientation is placed in a plane parallel to the first plane, means for adhering an intermediate plate to the ingot, means for adjusting a position of one of the support plate and the ingot in a plane parallel to the first plane based on the crystal orientation so that a mounting axis of the support plate is in a specific relationship with the orientation axis, and means for attaching the support plate to the intermediate plate.

A method for connecting a cylindrical ingot to a support plate includes measuring a crystal orientation of the ingot based on a diffraction of x-rays, rotating the ingot about a center axis based on the crystal orientation so that a center axis of the ingot is held parallel to a first plane and an orientation axis based on the crystal orientation is placed in a plane parallel to the first plane, adhering an intermediate plate to the ingot, adjusting a position of one of the support plate and the ingot in a plane parallel to the first plane based on the crystal orientation so that a mounting axis of the support plate is in a specific relationship with the orientation axis, and attaching the support plate to the intermediate plate.

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Yokosuka, Japan

Yoshiaki Banzawa