Etching
How Does It Work?
Polycrystalline materials are not homogenous. Instead, they have a microstructure made up of different grains (single crystals), second phases, precipitates, inclusions, etc. All of these defects in the material have different energies and thus respond differently to chemical attack. By selecting an appropriate chemical, different parts of a material’s microstructure (e.g. the grain boundaries) can be preferentially removed from the material, revealing the material’s microstructure. The material can be exposed to the chemical etchant in a number of ways (submersion with or without and external electrostatic potential, swabbing, spraying, etc.) for a period of time that can range from a few seconds to several minutes, depending on the material and chemical combination. This process is called etching.
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When should it be used?
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