Theoretical analysis of the electrodynamics conditions of photochemical subnano-polishing of a quartz surface in the medium saturated with chlorine molecules

Abstract

The conditions for the effective photochemical subnano-polishing of quartz surface in the medium saturated with chlorine molecules are considered from an electrodynamics point of view. The light scattering by a quartz surface with sinusoidal profile is analyzed in the result of solving the Helmholtz vector equation for a two-dimensional model by using the finite element approach. It is determined that effective subnano-polishing can be realized when monochromatic light falls normally on a quartz rough surface with sinusoidal profile and the medium around the quartz has a refractive index higher than that of quartz. The communication of separate components of the spatial spectrum of the surface, which has a Gaussian correlation function, with evanescent field parameters near the interface at the initial stage of the surface etching is obtained. It is shown that the surface etching process is nonlinear and unequal for various harmonics of the surface spectrum. At the same time, the electrodynamic solution is essentially independent of the light wavelength.