A Laser-Induced Gas Etching Technique

The most common method of removing surface layers from solids is careful grinding and polishing and more recently ion milling has come into use. Surface removal by an etching solution has found application in certain special cases but the etched surface usually contains etch pits whose density and depth are very dependent upon a number of factors such as temperature, concentration and structure and composition of the original surface. This paper proposes a new technique.