This book is a culmination of many years of research on the subject, and has had the help of many colleagues, students, and mentors along the path of my academic career. Dr. Tai‐ran Hsu, who gave me an opportunity as an assistant professor at San Jose State University, is a mentor and an inspiration when he endeavored to conduct research and study in MEMS in 1991, with the outcome of a book in MEMS (McGraw‐Hill 2002). My research at Stony Brook University (SBU, State University of New York, SUNY) on the topic of wafer manufacturing started in 1994 when I joined SBU. I started this research with a grant from the DoE and collaborated with Dr Vish Prasad on innovative growth techniques of photovoltaic wafers, and slicing using a slurry wiresaw, which was a new machine tool for slicing ingots to wafers at that time. The research continued to be funded by NSF and industrial grants. The collaboration with Dr Fu‐pen Chiang, who is a reputed and renowned researcher in optical metrology, led to work in novel wafer surface measurements and real‐time monitoring of wire wear and wire web using optical metrology. Many PhD and MS students of mine worked on pioneering modeling and research on slurry wiresaws and wafer manufacturing that led to some of the contents of this book. I am grateful to have the dedication and contributions of Drs Milind Bhagavat (who started the concept of this book with me), Liqun Zhu, Songbin Wei, Sumeet Bhagavat, Chunhui Chung (who is a coauthor of this book), and Liming Li.

In addition, I would like to thank Professor Chao‐Chang Arthur Chen of the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology and the Global Wafer Co., Limited in Taiwan that provided images of wafer manufacturing processes for my book. The images are used to illustrate various wafer manufacturing processes, from crystal growth to polished prime wafers, and make for a better presentation and relevance of the manufacturing processes.

I was fortunate to be working with some of the best colleagues at SBU when I was asked to step into various roles in administration, and participated in the establishment of innovative education initiatives, such as the Undergraduate Colleges system, new departments, and SUNY Korea – a global campus of SBU at Incheon, Korea. My mentor, Dr Yacov Shamash, helped me to appreciate the rigours in academic administration. I took a six‐month sabbatical leave in 2016 at SUNY Korea to carry out my role as the Executive Director of SUNY Korea Academic Programs, and to spend more time on writing this book. I am very appreciative of the then President ChoonHo Kim with whom I partnered and participated in the daunting work, with a broader team at SBU and in Korea, in establishing a global university in a new mold with an academia–government–industry trilateral collaboration at an international level. Juggling administrative tasks with my research has been an intriguing challenge for me over the years, nonetheless.

Most importantly, I am forever grateful to my wife and life‐long partner, Elaine Chang, who has been a stalwart supporter for me over more than 37 years of marriage. Without her unwavering support and considerable influence, this book would not have been possible. We have three children, Drs Katherine Kao, Jonathan Kao, and Emmeline Kao, who have helped with reading this work and have commented on it. I am indeed blessed to have my family and God in my life.

February 2020

Imin Kao

at Stony Brook, New York