Ingot

An ingot is a mass of metal or semiconducting material, heated past the melting point, and then recast, typically into the form of a bar or block.

More generally, these objects are typically cast into a specific shape with the aim of rendering them easy to handle. Additionally, ingots may be molds from which metal objects are cast.

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.