Cutting Silicon Wafers with Wire
Computer chips and solar cells are built on top of silicon wafers, sliced from ingots of silicon.
Slicing ingot is tricky, however. Metal saws wasted silicon. The ancient Egyptians used ropes to
slice through stone. In the early 1980s, Swiss inventor Charles Hauser tried using strands of
the toughest wire he could find. Such wire was becoming widely available as automobile tire
makers started making "steel belted" tires--rubber reinforced with strands of tough wire. Hauser
figured out how to use 10 miles of wire at a time, wrapped around four rollers, to cut 1,000
wafers at once. The wire cuts were faster and produced less waste. The tire industry bought lots
of wire and helped reduce the cost.
Forbes
Next
Computer chips and solar cells are built on top of silicon wafers, sliced from ingots of silicon.
Slicing ingot is tricky, however. Metal saws wasted silicon. The ancient Egyptians used ropes to
slice through stone. In the early 1980s, Swiss inventor Charles Hauser tried using strands of
the toughest wire he could find. Such wire was becoming widely available as automobile tire
makers started making "steel belted" tires--rubber reinforced with strands of tough wire. Hauser
figured out how to use 10 miles of wire at a time, wrapped around four rollers, to cut 1,000
wafers at once. The wire cuts were faster and produced less waste. The tire industry bought lots
of wire and helped reduce the cost.
Forbes
Next
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