抄録
The irradiation of a focused femtosecond (fs) laser pulse modifi es silica glass to a chemically susceptible
state in the vicinity of the focus. Using fs laser modification along a line and successive chemical
etching, a microchannel can be fabricated. The present study investigated the dependence of the etching
rate on the etching temperature for both modifi ed and un-modifi ed regions. The etching rates in both
regions increased with increasing temperature, and the same activation energy of approximately 0.85 eV
was determined in both regions. This result implies that high-speed etching can be achieved without loss
of selectivity by increasing the etching temperature. Possible advantages and disadvantages of hightemperature
etching are discussed.
