Orientation‐dependent etching of silicon by aqueous KOH is a standard procedure in the microelectronics industry. We have measured the etching products by recording the Raman spectra in real time as the etching of {100} silicon progressed in a 5 M KOH solution. The primary etching species has been determined to be OH − , and the etching products have been determined to be the silicate SiO 2 ( OH ) 2 = . Isopropyl alcohol does not appear to participate chemically in the etching process.
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Palik et al. (1983) studied this question.