Ingot
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the computing qualification, see Ingot certificate.
An ingot is a mass of metal or semiconducting material, heated past its melting point and then cast into a shape which is easy to handle, often a bar or block. Additionally, ingots may be molds from which metal objects are cast.
The Chinese New Year's cookie, "Yau Gwok", was made to symbolize the ingot.
In the semiconductor industry single crystal ingots (often called boules) of semiconductor materials can be grown by methods such as the Czochralski process or Bridgeman technique. These are then cut up and polished to provide wafers on which semiconductor devices, ranging from microprocessors to light-emitting diodes can be fabricated.
Single crystal ingots can be created with single dendrite formation. Such is done for single crystal turbine blades.
