Patent attributes
The object of the present invention is to provide a method whereby it is possible to cut a single crystal ingot comparatively accurately while allowing resulting slices to have a flat surface, and to lengthen the life of the blade more than would be possible with conventional methods. A single crystal ingot 10a is arranged below a straightly running portion 18a of the blade which is made to run endlessly along a circuit such that the longitudinal axis of ingot 10a crosses at right angles with the straightly running portion 18a of the blade, thereby enabling the straightly running portion 18a of the blade to cut the ingot 10a perpendicularly. If the blade is inclined to one side, the cutting machine detects a shift A between the uppermost end of cut surface 10b and its lowermost end projected to the longitudinal axis of ingot, and corrects the inclination of the blade by tilting the imaginary cut surface 10c including the straightly running portion of the blade in the opposite direction by an angle with respect to a line vertical to the longitudinal axis of ingot 10a such that shift B is equal to shift A. Subsequent to correction, cutting is further continued with the straightly running portion 18a of the blade whose inclination has been just corrected.
