We report the development of an in situ real‐time light scattering technique to study the wet chemical etching process of Si(100). Based on a simple scattering theory, the number of etch pits and other statistical parameters such as correlation length and interface width on a pitted surface are extracted from the scattering profile. The time evolution of the surface morphology can be interpreted by a simple rate equation.

Topics
Etching, Probability theory, Chemical reactions, Light scattering, Scattering theory
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© 1996 American Institute of Physics.
1996
American Institute of Physics
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