Takatori is the world leader slicing challenging materials using diamond wire or abrasive slurry. GTI and Takatori worked together to develop the first applications to slice sapphire and silicon carbide using wire saws, and today Takatori saws are industry standards for both materials.From the beginning Takatori gave their machines a unique “rocking” function, improving slicing quality. Almost all of today’s Takatori saws still have this feature, and it opens the door not just to higher quality, but auto-winding, speeding up turn-around of the machine.GTI and Takatori have helped customers achieve lower costs and higher productivity slicing a wide variety of materials, including SiC, sapphire, GaN, glass, ceramics, GaAs, GaP, quartz, Si, and more.
Why wire sawing?
Going from your source material, whether a carefully grown, single crystal ingot, a perfectly produced and slowly annealed piece of glass, or a sintered block of high-tech ceramic, to a thin wafer with perfect geometry and a beautiful surface finish means losing material at every processing step. Wire-sawing significantly reduces material loss at multiple steps, saving time, saving money, and saving material.From the beginning, wire sawing reduces kerf loss (material lost during slicing). Compared to traditional OD saws, ID saws, and other slicing methods, wire sawing saves substantial material. Typical kerf loss is < 0.200mm / 0.008” for slurry and ~0.250mm / 0.010” for diamond wire, and can be even lower. Reduced kerf loss means more wafers for a given length of material, quickly lowering costs and improving productivity.In addition to the benefits of lower kerf loss, wire sawing also typically results in higher quality cut. TTV, bow, and warp are minimized, as is surface roughness and sub-surface damage. The improved “as-sliced” quality means that subsequent steps (grinding, lapping, and polishing) can be minimized, saving time and material. The reduced processing requirement even means that wafers can be sliced to a thinner initial thickness, saving more material and improving yields.
Contact us to learn more about how multi-wire saws from Takatori can help your company lower costs and improve productivity.
