Controlled crystal dissolution applied to quartz

Quartz chemical lapping of AT and SC cuts was performed in NaOH·xH2O medium and this controlled dissolution resulted in reasonable quality of surface texture. Activation energy was calculated from dissolution rates measured against temperature. The initial surface texture of the samples influenced roughness parameter evolution but not the final roughness value. The electrical response of piezoelectric devices made by chemical lapping has been compared against others obtained by the IBE process. The comparison has shown that the controlled dissolution process is at least as good as IBE for producing piezoelectric devices.