Chemical milling of quartz using a solution based on organic solvents and anhydrous hydrofluoric acid

The use of hydrofluoric acid solution in chemically milling, etching and polishing quartz has been accepted for many years. Several papers have been presented addressing aqueous HF solutions. In this paper the use of a solution based on organic solvents and anhydrous HF to chemically mill or etch mesa structures in quartz plates is investigated. The etch rate figures and how they are affected by the molarity of the solution, temperature, quartz cut angle and water concentration have been studied. Based on data collected by several tests, the parameters of etch rate relative to cut angle, temperature and solution concentrations has been determined. From this data, mathematical equations defining the chemical mechanisms have been developed and are presented in this paper. These equations are further verified by comparing predicted results to actual data gathered from a mesa-blank production line.