Effect of cutting parameters on surface integrity of monocrystalline silicon sawn with an endless diamond wire saw

[Display omitted] •Surface morphology shows brittle and ductile regions.•Phase transformation was more intense on increasing wire cutting speed and decreasing feed rate.•All cutting parameters has a significant effect on surface integrity of silicon.•The highest wire cutting speed and lowest feed rate and wire tension provided high quality silicon wafers. The cutting of silicon wafers using multi-diamond wire sawing is a critical stage in solar cell manufacturing due to brittleness of silicon. Improving the cutting process output requires an in-depth understanding of phenomena associated with cutting parameters. In order to investigate the influence of diamond wire sawing on surface integrity of monocrystalline silicon, a looped diamond wire was used and cutting parameters wire cutting speed, feed rate and wire tension were varied. The surface morphology was observed by scanning electron microscopy. Surface roughness Sa was measured with a non-contact profilometer. The brittle-ductile transition was identified by presence of residual phases on sawn surface. A bevel-polishing method was employed to determine the microcrack depth. The results show that with higher feed rate the surface presents deeper and wider craters because of deeper penetration of diamond grain. On increasing wire cutting speed, there were more regions formed in ductile mode. The higher Sa values was observed on increasing both feed rate and wire tension, while Sa decreased with an increase in wire cutting speed. The brittle mode was predominant with an increase in feed rate, resulting in Si-I phase in regions formed in fragile mode. Material removal in ductile mode led to appearance of a-Si phase at high wire cutting speed. No significant effect was observed on increasing wire tension. Subsurface microcracks mainly initiating from bottom of grooves generated by cutting mechanism. The most appropriate set of cutting parameters is the lowest feed rate and wire tension and highest wire cutting speed.