To explore the damage law and evolution mechanism of silicon wafers during precision grinding， a single diamond grain cutting experiment of a monocrystalline silicon wafer was carried out. The characteristics of the fracture damage morphology at the entrance of a scratch， inside the scratch， and at the outlet of the scratch were analyzed when the edge of the silicon wafer was covered by an adhesive and when it was not. Thus， the close internal relationship between the AE intensity， grinding force， cutting depth， friction coefficient， and crushing damage was established. With an increase in the loading pressure or penetration depth， the damage on monocrystalline silicon becomes increasingly serious， and the intensity of the acoustic emission signal with release increases. The critical threshold conditions for the internal fragmentation of monocrystalline silicon are as follows： the load， penetration depth， and acoustic emission intensity should be approximately 80 mN， 2 μm， and 10%， respectively. The toughening effect of the adhesive coating on the edge of the monocrystalline silicon wafer was remarkable. The critical threshold conditions for the edge chipping of monocrystalline silicon are as follows： a load of approximately 800 mN， a penetration depth of approximately 6 μm， and an acoustic emission intensity of approximately 55%.