Chemical and structural changes of quartz surfaces due to structuring by laser-induced backside wet etching

Various physical and chemical processes which are involved in laser-induced backside wet etching are investigated. The surface of quartz etched by the laser-induced backside wet etching using a XeCl excimer laser at various fluences is analyzed by Raman microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and fiber-tip attenuated total-reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The investigations reveal the formation of a high amount of amorphous carbon deposits at low laser fluences, which strongly adhere to the quartz surface. Combining X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy reveals that the quartz is also chemically and structurally modified due to a loss of oxygen and by a change of the quartz polymorph at intermediate and high laser fluences. These modification and their differences for different fluences are explained by the etching mechanisms itself, i.e. different magnitudes of temperature and pressure jumps. The results show clearly which conditions for etching must be applied to machine high-quality structures, e.g. micro-optical elements in quartz.