TW202214411A - Ingot cutting apparatus and ingot cutting method - Google Patents

Abstract

An ingot cutting device being suitable for cutting an ingot with a cutting wire is provided. The ingot cutting apparatus includes a roller group, a sink, and a fluid injection device. The cutting wire is movably wound around the roller group. The cutting wire is suitable for moving in a cutting direction when the roller group rotates, and is suitable for cutting the ingot contacted the cutting wire. The sink has an annular side wall and a bottom to form a receiving space. The receiving space is located below the ingot. The heights of the annular side wall is not uniform. The position of the annular side wall with the minimum height is located in the cutting direction. The fluid injection device is adapted to inject a fluid into the receiving space. An ingot cutting method is also provided.

Description

Ingot cutting equipment and ingot cutting method

The present invention relates to a cutting device and a cutting method, and in particular, to a crystal rod cutting device and a crystal rod cutting method.

Generally speaking, the growth steps of the crystal rod are roughly as follows: first, heat the crystal silicon to form a silicon melt slurry; after the temperature of the silicon melt slurry is stabilized, inject the crystal seed into the silicon melt slurry, and pull up the seed crystal; , After the neck growth, crown growth, crystal growth and tail growth and other procedures, the ingot can be produced.

However, the ingot cannot be directly made into a wafer. Before that, the ingot must be cut into multiple wafers.

The invention provides a crystal rod cutting device and a crystal rod cutting method, which are suitable for cutting crystal rods.

The ingot cutting device of the present invention is suitable for cutting the ingot. The ingot cutting equipment includes a roller set, a tank body and a fluid injection device. The cutting line is movably wound around the roller set, so as to move in the cutting direction when the roller set rotates, and is suitable for cutting the ingot contacting the cutting line. The groove body has an annular side wall and a bottom to form an accommodating space. The accommodating space is located below the crystal rod. The heights of the annular side walls are not uniform, and the minimum height of the annular side walls is in the cutting direction. The fluid injection device is adapted to inject fluid into the accommodation space.

The ingot cutting method of the present invention includes the following steps. The aforementioned ingot cutting equipment is provided, and the fluid is injected into the accommodating space by the fluid injection device. Ingots are provided. The roller set is rotated to move the cutting line in the cutting direction, and the moving cutting line is brought into contact with the ingot to cut the ingot, and when cutting the ingot, part of the cutting line is immersed in the fluid. Based on this, the crystal rod cutting device and the crystal rod cutting method can be suitable for cutting the crystal rod.

In order to make the above-mentioned features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, the following embodiments are given and described in detail with the accompanying drawings as follows. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1A is a schematic perspective view of an ingot cutting apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 1B to 1F are schematic side views of a method for cutting an ingot according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1G is a schematic side view of a diced wafer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1A , the ingot cutting apparatus 100 is adapted to cut the ingot 900 with the cutting line 120 . The ingot cutting apparatus 100 includes a roller set 110 , a tank body 130 and a fluid injection device 140 . The roller set 110 is wound around it (the roller set 110 ) so that the cutting line 120 can move. In this way, the cutting wire 120 is adapted to move unidirectionally or reciprocally in the cutting direction 128 when the roller set 110 rotates, and is suitable for cutting the ingot 900 in contact with the cutting wire 120 . The groove body 130 has an annular side wall 131 and a bottom 137 . In this way, the annular side wall 131 and the bottom 137 can constitute the accommodating space 138 . When the ingot 900 is cut by the cutting line 120 , the accommodating space 138 is located below the ingot 900 . The heights of the annular side walls 131 are not uniform, and the minimum height 139 of the annular side walls 131 is located in the cutting direction 128 . The fluid injection device 140 is adapted to inject the fluid 141 into the accommodating space 138 .

In this embodiment, the crystal rod 900 is, for example, a silicon crystal rod, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the ingot 900 may be a silicon carbide (SiC) ingot, a gallium nitride (GaN) ingot, or other suitable columnar ingots.

In this embodiment, the roller set 110 may include a plurality of rollers 111 . The roller 111 may rotate in the first direction 111a; or, the roller 111 may rotate in the second direction 111b opposite to the first direction 111a. The first direction 111a is, for example, a clockwise direction, and the second direction 111b is, for example, a counterclockwise direction. In addition, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1A , the number of the rollers 111 is, for example, two, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, in other embodiments, the number of rollers may be three or four.

In one embodiment, each roller 111 may be recessed with a plurality of annular (or helical) grooves (not shown). The grooves of these rollers 111 may correspond to each other. In this way, the cutting line 120 can be movably wound around the groove of the roller 111 . As shown in FIG. 1A , the cutting line 120 may be spirally wound around the plurality of rollers 111 of the roller set 110 . As such, the cutting line 120 may have a plurality of cutting segments 121 that are substantially parallel to each other. The cutting section 121 may be referred to as a wire mesh, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

In one embodiment, the cutting wire 120 may include piano wire, nickel wire, nickel alloy wire, tungsten wire, tungsten alloy wire, copper wire, copper alloy wire, or a combination thereof.

In one embodiment, the diameter of the cutting line 120 is substantially between 30 microns and 200 microns, but the invention is not limited thereto.

In one embodiment, the surface of the cutting line 120 may include abrasives, such as, but not limited to, diamonds.

In this embodiment, the annular side wall 131 may include a first side wall 132 and a second side wall 133 . The first side wall 132 is located in the cutting direction 128 . The second side wall 133 is connected to the first side wall 132 . The second side wall 133 is not located in the cutting direction 128 . The height H2 of the first side wall 132 is smaller than the height H3 of the second side wall 133 . More specifically, the first side wall 132 has a first height of equal height (ie height H2), the second side wall 133 has a second height of equal height (ie height H3), and the first height is smaller than the second height; therefore, The groove body 130 forms an overflow opening 130 a in the cutting direction 128 . Preferably, the overflow opening 130a can accommodate the cutting segments 121 (ie wire mesh) parallel to each other. It is also mentioned that, in other embodiments, the heights of the first side walls 132 may also be unequal heights, wherein the heights of the unequal heights are all smaller than the heights of the second side walls 133 .

In one embodiment, if the fluid 141 (eg, the volume of the injected fluid 141 is larger than the volume of the accommodating space 138 ) is injected into the accommodating space 138 by the fluid injection device 140 , part of the fluid 141 can be injected from a lower height ( For example, the minimum height 139 of the annular side wall 131 , that is, the overflow port 130 a ) flows out of the accommodating space 138 along a direction parallel to the cutting direction 128 . Therefore, when the ingot 900 is cut by the cutting line 120 , the force exerted by the fluid 141 on the cutting line 120 (ie, each cutting segment 121 ) in the direction perpendicular to the cutting direction 128 can be reduced, and the cutting line 120 can be reduced in Wobbling or perturbation in a direction perpendicular to cutting direction 128 .

In one embodiment, under the condition that the fluid 141 is continuously injected into the accommodating space 138, if the accommodating space 138 is filled with the fluid 141, the liquid level 142 of the fluid 141 in the accommodating space 138 can be made higher than part of the liquid level 142. The height of the side wall (eg, the height H2 of part or all of the first side wall 132 ).

In this embodiment, the ingot cutting apparatus 100 may further include a cooling device 151 thermally coupled to the roller set 110 . When the roller set 110 is rotated to drive the cutting line 120 to cut the ingot 900 , the rotating roller set 110 can be cooled by the cooling device 151 .

In one embodiment, the cooling device 151 is, for example, a liquid-cooled cooling device embedded in the roller set 110 , but the invention is not limited thereto.

An ingot cutting method according to an embodiment of the present invention is described as follows.

Please refer to FIGS. 1B to 1F , wherein FIGS. 1B to 1F are schematic side views of a method for cutting an ingot according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIGS. 1B to 1F and the corresponding descriptions, the ingot cutting method is exemplified by the ingot cutting apparatus 100 of the first embodiment. Therefore, in FIGS. 1B to 1F , the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar components and may have the same or similar operation modes or uses, so the components described in FIG. 1A will not be repeated here. In addition, the present invention does not limit the ingot 900 to be cut with the ingot cutting apparatus 100 of the first embodiment. In other not-shown embodiments, the ingot cutting method can also be performed by the same or similar ingot cutting apparatus 100 of the first embodiment (eg, the ingot cutting apparatus 200 of the second embodiment described later or the ingot cutting apparatus 200 of the second embodiment described later or the second embodiment described later. The ingot cutting apparatus 300) of the third embodiment is carried out.

Referring to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B , an ingot cutting apparatus 100 is provided.

Please continue to refer to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B , an ingot 900 is provided.

In this embodiment, the ingot 900 can be fixed on the pedestal 162 by the adhesive member 161, but the invention is not limited thereto.

In this embodiment, the fluid 141 may be injected into the accommodating space 138 before the crystal rod 900 is in contact with the cutting section 121 . However, the present invention is not limited to this.

In the present embodiment, the fluid 141 can be continuously injected into the accommodating space 138 by the fluid injection device 140 , and the liquid level 142 of the fluid 141 in the accommodating space 138 can be increased through the annular sidewall 131 with different heights. At the minimum height 139 of the annular side wall 131 .

In this embodiment, before the ingot 900 comes into contact with the cutting section 121 , a part of the cutting line 120 (ie the cutting section 121 ) can be immersed in the fluid 141 , so that the cutting line 120 can be cut at the beginning of cutting. more stable.

Please continue to refer to FIGS. 1B to 1C , by moving the seat 162 to the direction 163 of the cutting section 121 of the cutting line 120 , the ingot 900 can be brought into contact with the cutting section 121 of the cutting line 120 .

In a not-shown embodiment, before the ingot 900 is in contact with the cutting section 121, if the cutting line 120 is not immersed in the fluid 141, the cutting line 120 may be subjected to a downward pressure by the ingot 900, so that part of the cutting line 120 is pressed. Cut line 120 is immersed in fluid 141 .

Please continue to refer to FIGS. 1C to 1F , the cutting line 120 can be moved in the cutting direction 128 by the rotation of the roller 111 . It is worth noting that the present invention does not limit the cutting line 120 to be unidirectional or reciprocating.

By the moving dicing line 120, the ingot 900 in contact with the dicing line 120 can be cut.

As shown in FIG. 1C to FIG. 1F , the cutting section 121 in contact with the ingot 900 will be in an arc shape due to the force. The angle corresponding to the arc-shaped cutting segment 121 may be referred to as a wire bow angle. Generally speaking, the curvature of the arc-shaped cutting section 121 (or; the corresponding wire bow angle) will be related to the tension of the cutting section 121, the moving speed of the cutting wire 120 (may be referred to as the linear speed), and the direction of the ingot 900. The rate of movement of the cutting line 120 (which may be referred to as the push-down rate or the feed rate) is related. In addition, when the ingot 900 is diced, the above-mentioned related parameters also affect the warp of the formed wafer.

In this embodiment, when starting to cut the ingot 900, the arcuateness of the cutting section 121 in contact with the ingot 900 may be referred to as a cut-line bow. In this embodiment, relatively speaking, by reducing the rotational speed of the roller set 111 , that is, reducing the linear speed, the tangential bow of the cutting section 121 is increased.

In this embodiment, when cutting the ingot 900 , part of the cutting line 120 is immersed in the fluid 141 . For example, the contact of the cutting line 120 with the ingot 900 may be immersed in the fluid 141 .

In this way, when the ingot 900 is cut by the cutting line 120 , the generated debris or particles can be quickly carried away from the contact by the fluid 141 . Alternatively, when the ingot 900 is cut by the cutting wire 120 , the heat generated by friction can be quickly carried away by the fluid 141 . In this way, the plurality of wafers 910 obtained after dicing the ingot 900 can be more uniform in thickness and/or less warpage.

In detail, the cutting process of the ingot 900 can be sequentially shown in FIGS. 1C to 1F , which can be roughly divided into the first half of the cutting process as shown in FIGS. 1C to 1E , and the second half of the cutting process shown in FIGS. 1E to 1F part. In the whole cutting process, the material removal rate (MRR) of the ingot 900 during the cutting process is substantially the same by controlling the linear speed and/or the pressing rate (or feeding rate).

In this embodiment, in the first half of the cutting process, the feed rate and/or the linear speed may be gradually decreased, and in the second half of the cutting process, the feed rate and/or the linear speed may be gradually increased. In this way, the wire bow can be as consistent as possible in the first half and the second half of the cutting process. For example, the base 162 and the roller set 110 are suitable for signal connection to the control mechanism 164. By adjusting the parameters of the control mechanism 164, the base 162 can have a corresponding feed rate, and the roller set 110 can drive the cutting line 120. with the corresponding linear velocity.

In this embodiment, the ingot cutting apparatus 100 may further include a cooling device 151 . In addition, when cutting the ingot 900 , the cooling device 151 can take away the heat of the roller set 110 . In this way, the heat generated by the roller set 110 and the heat transferred to the dicing line 120 can be reduced, so that the wafers 910 obtained after dicing the ingot 900 can be more uniform in thickness and/or warped can be smaller.

After the above steps, the cutting of the ingot 900 in this embodiment can be roughly completed. The diced ingot 900 may form one or more wafers 910 as shown in FIG. 1G .

Generally speaking, the cutting surface of the wafer 910 formed by the cut ingot 900 may have one or more cutting marks 911 . Through the cutting marks 911, it is possible to push the wire bow of the corresponding cutting segment 121 during cutting.

2 is a schematic side view of an ingot cutting apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The ingot cutting apparatus 200 of the second embodiment is similar to the ingot cutting apparatus 100 of the first embodiment. In FIG. 2 , the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar components and may have the same or similar operation modes or uses, so the components described in the foregoing embodiments will not be repeated here.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the ingot cutting apparatus 200 is suitable for cutting the ingot 900 . The ingot cutting apparatus 200 includes a roller set 110 , a tank body 230 and a fluid injection device 140 . In the cutting direction 128 , the groove body 230 has an opening diameter 236L relative to the opening 236 of the bottom 137 , the bottom 137 has a bottom width 137L, and the opening diameter 236L is larger than the bottom width 137L. In addition, the annular side wall 131 has a waist width 131L, and the waist width 131L is substantially the same as the bottom width 137L. In this way, space can be saved, and the cutting line 120 can be more difficult to cut to the groove body 230 . It is also worth mentioning that, in other embodiments, the annular side wall does not have to have a waist width, but may be a flat surface.

3 is a schematic perspective view of an ingot cutting apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The ingot cutting apparatus 300 of the second embodiment is similar to the ingot cutting apparatus 100 of the first embodiment. In FIG. 3 , the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar components and may have the same or similar operation modes or uses, so the components described in FIG. 1A will not be repeated here.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the ingot cutting device 300 is suitable for cutting the ingot 900 . The ingot cutting apparatus 200 includes a roller set 110 , a tank body 130 , a fluid injection device 140 and a cutting buffer 371 . The cutting buffer 371 is disposed at least on the annular side wall 131 in the cutting direction 128 . For example, the cutting buffer 371 may be disposed on the first side wall 132 .

In this embodiment, the cutting buffer 371 can reduce the possibility that the cutting line 120 directly touches the annular side wall 131 . In this way, breakage or damage of the cutting wire 120 can be reduced.

In this embodiment, the hardness of the cutting buffer 371 may be smaller than that of the cutting line 120 . For example, the material of the cutting buffer 371 is rubber, for example.

To sum up, the crystal ingot cutting device and the crystal ingot cutting method of the present invention can be suitable for cutting the crystal ingot.

100, 200, 300: Ingot cutting equipment 110: Roller set 111: Roller 111a: First Direction 111b: Second direction 120: cutting line 121: Cutting Segments 128: Cutting direction 130, 230, 330: tank body 131, 331: annular side wall 131L: Waist width 132, 332: first side wall 133: Second side wall 333: Groove H2, H3: height 236: Opening 236L: opening diameter 137: Bottom 137L: Bottom width 138: accommodating space 139: Minimum height 140: Fluid injection device 141: Fluid 142: Liquid level 151: Cooling device 161: Adhesives 162: Pedestal 163: Direction 164: Control Mechanism 371: Cutting Buffer 900: Crystal Rod 910: Wafer 911: Cut marks

FIG. 1A is a schematic perspective view of an ingot cutting device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 1B to 1F are schematic side views of a method for cutting an ingot according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1G is a schematic side view of a diced wafer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of an ingot cutting device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic three-dimensional view of an ingot cutting device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

100: Ingot cutting equipment

110: Roller set

111: Roller

111a: First Direction

111b: Second direction

120: cutting line

121: Cutting Segments

128: Cutting direction

130: tank body

130a: overflow port

131: Annular side wall

132: First side wall

H2: height

133: Second side wall

H3: height

137: Bottom

138: accommodating space

139: Minimum height

151: Cooling device

161: Adhesives

162: Pedestal

163: Direction

164: Control Mechanism

900: Crystal Rod

Claims (11)

A crystal ingot cutting equipment, suitable for cutting a crystal ingot with a cutting wire, and the crystal ingot cutting equipment comprises: A roller set, on which the cutting line is movably wound, is adapted to move the cutting line in the cutting direction when the roller set rotates, and is suitable for cutting the cutting line that contacts the cutting line crystal rod; The groove body is located between the roller sets, and the groove body has an annular side wall and a bottom to form an accommodating space, wherein the accommodating space is located below the crystal rod, the height of the annular side wall is inconsistent, and the annular sidewall has a minimum height in the cutting direction; and A fluid injection device is adapted to inject fluid into the accommodating space. The ingot cutting equipment according to claim 1, further comprising: A cooling device is thermally coupled to the roller set. The ingot cutting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the annular sidewall comprises: a first side wall in the cutting direction; and The second side wall is connected to the first side wall and is not located in the cutting direction, and the height of the first side wall is smaller than the height of the second side wall. The ingot cutting device according to claim 3, wherein the height of the first side wall is a first height of equal height, and the height of the second side wall is a second height of equal height. The ingot cutting device according to claim 1, wherein the groove body further has an opening relative to the bottom, and in the cutting direction, the opening has an opening diameter, the bottom has a bottom width, and The opening diameter is larger than the bottom width. The ingot cutting apparatus of claim 5, wherein in the cutting direction, the annular sidewall has a waist width that is substantially the same as the bottom width. A method for cutting a crystal rod, comprising: provide crystal rods; Provide ingot cutting equipment as claimed in item 1; injecting the fluid into the accommodating space by the fluid injection device; Rotate the roller set to move the cutting line in the cutting direction, and make the moving cutting line contact the ingot to cut the ingot, and when cutting the ingot, A portion of the cutting line is immersed in the fluid. The ingot cutting method according to claim 7, wherein when the ingot is cut, the fluid is continuously injected into the accommodating space by the fluid injection device. The ingot cutting method according to claim 7, wherein before cutting the ingot, a part of the cutting line is immersed in the fluid in the accommodating space. The ingot cutting method according to claims 7 to 9, wherein when the ingot is cut, the material removal rate of the ingot is controlled to be substantially the same. The ingot cutting method according to claims 7 to 9, wherein the rotation speed of the roller set is reduced when the cutting line moves to contact the ingot.

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