I have commercial AFM cantilevers with a 70nm backside gold coating (and probably a thin Ti or Cr adhesion layer) which I need to remove. What would be a gentle way to do so?

Aqua regia will of course remove Au, however I am worried that the reaction will be so violent as to break the cantilevers, as the etch rate is ~ 10um/min at room temperature. Is there a way to "dilute" the solution?

Also, I adhere my cantilever chips to a glass slide by crystalbonds. Would I expect the adhesion to fail?