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US 9,242,333 B2Granted
Systems and methods for ingot grinding
AssigneeMEMC Singapore Pte. Ltd.
InventorsJames A. Hicks, Nicholas R. Mercurio
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of grinding an ingot for use in manufacturing a semiconductor or solar wafer is disclosed. The method includes providing an ingot including four flat sides and four rounded corner portions, each corner portion extending between an adjacent pair of the flat sides, and grinding a plurality of planar facets on each corner portion, each planar facet of the corner portion joined to an adjacent facet at a juncture and oriented such that each corner portion has a substantially arcuate shape. A wafer and ingot are also disclosed.
Claims11
A wafer of solar or semiconductor material, the wafer comprising:
- a plurality of flat sides;
- and
- a corner portion extending between an adjacent pair of the flat sides, the corner portion including a plurality of planar facets, each planar facet of the corner portion joined to an adjacent facet at a juncture and oriented such that the corner portion has a substantially arcuate shape, wherein the corner portion includes a finite number of planar facets and includes at least six planar facets.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.