We need to roughen our substrate in a random manner. Can we do by the wet etching process without using HF. KOH is a good candidate but the recipe for the same found in literature does not seem to work for me. Could someone share a proper recipe for making KOH and the appropriate concentration of it to etch quartz substrates (not glass)?
The concentration of KOH that you used is not mentioned. Increasing the KOH concentration and temperature will accelerate the dissolution of SiO2. You can use NaOH or LiOH also. Roughening could be faster at elevated temperatures (> 60 deg C). Note that typical dissolution rate of SiO2 at pH 13, 60 C is ~ 10-7 -10-8 mol/m2.s [Ref: F.K. Crundwell, ACS Omega 2017, 2, 1116−1127].
Thank you very much for the help. I used 30% KOH solution (made by adding 30 gms of KOH pellets in 70 ml DI water) at 70 C and submerged the quartz slides in there for 4 hours. I was unable get the desired surface roughness on quartz substrate. I would go through the shared reference. Thank you!
Your concentration and temperature are on the higher side only. Increasing the time and ultrasonication may help. How about adding little bit of ammonium fluoride?
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