Study on In Situ Etching Rate Monitoring in Numerically Controlled Local Wet Etching

Numerically controlled local wet etching (NC-LWE) is very promising technique for deterministic figuring of ultraprecision optical devices, such as aspherical lens, photo mask substrate and X-ray or neutron focusing mirror. NC-LWE technique is non-contact removal process using chemical reaction between etchant and surface of workpiece, so this technique enables us to figure the objective shape without introduction both substrate deformation and sub-surface damage. It is essential to measure temperature and concentration of the etchant to maintain the material removal rate constant over a processing time, since the etching rate of NC-LWE strongly depends on these parameters. Hydrofluoric (HF) acid solution is used as an etchant for synthesized quartz glass. We aim to develop an in situ monitoring system of etchant concentration using Raman spectroscopy and electric conductivity measurement. Raman spectroscopy measurement result indicates that there is a good linear relationship between HF concentration and intensity ratio of two specific Raman bands.