Once the boule has been obtained, its seed and tail are cut off and the boule is mechanically trimmed to the proper diameter. Diameter at this point is kept slightly more than require since additional etching process is still to be done.

Primary and secondary flats are made to indicate crystal orientation and doping type. Largest flat which is perpendicular to <110> direction is called primary flat while one or more minor flats are called secondary flats.

After grinding the flats, it is needed to remove the damage caused by mechanical grinding. For this purpose, it is dipped in chemical etchant, which is usually based on $HF-HNO_3$ system.

The boule is sliced into wafers using diamond saw.

To remove any residual mechanical damage and to prepare the wafer for fabrication, firstly wafers are mechanically lapped in slurry of alumina glycerin and then etched as before. Secondly chemical mechanical polishing is done on one or both sides of wafer.