Patent ID: 7648890

Claim:
A process for producing a silicon wafer, comprising: performing slicing a silicon wafer from a silicon single crystal ingot; performing etching of a first surface of said silicon wafer by a single-wafer etching step, the single-wafer etching step comprising supplying an etching solution through a nozzle to said surface of said wafer and rotating said wafer to spread said etching solution over an entire area of said surface of said wafer; and a polishing step of polishing the etched first surface of said wafer, wherein said single-wafer etching step flattens unevenness generated during said slicing and removes processing-deformation layer on a surface of said wafer; said etching solution used in said single-wafer etching step is an aqueous acid solution which contains hydrogen fluoride, nitric acid, and phosphoric acid in an amount such that the content of each by weight % at a mixing ratio of hydrogen fluoride:nitric acid:phosphoric acid is 0.5 to 40%:5 to 50%:5 to 70%, respectively; an amount of said etching solution supplied from said nozzle in said single-wafer etching step is 2 to 30 liter/mm; and a rotating speed of said silicon wafer in said single-wafer etching step is 100 to 2000 r.p.m., wherein the process excludes machine polishing prior to the single-wafer etching step.