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Drypoint is a printmaking technique of the intaglio family, in which an image is incised into a plate (or "matrix") with a hard-pointed "needle" of sharp metal or diamond point. In principle, the method is practically identical to engraving .
Dry etching refers to the removal of material, typically a masked pattern of semiconductor material, by exposing the material to a bombardment of ions (usually a plasma of reactive gases such as fluorocarbons, oxygen, chlorine, boron trichloride; sometimes with addition of nitrogen, argon, helium and other gases) that dislodge portions of the material from the exposed surface.
The plate's ground side is then dipped into acid, or the acid poured onto it. The acid bites into the surface of the plate where it was exposed. Biting is a printmaking term to describe the acid's etching, or incising, of the image; its duration depends on the acid strength, metal's reactivity, temperature, air pressure and the depth desired. [8]
Etching is a critically important process module in fabrication, and every wafer undergoes many etching steps before it is complete. For many etch steps, part of the wafer is protected from the etchant by a "masking" material which resists etching. In some cases, the masking material is a photoresist which has been patterned using photolithography.
This process is called aquatint, and allows for the creation of tones, shadows, and solid areas of color. The design is then drawn (in reverse) with an etching-needle or échoppe. An "echoppe" point can be made from an ordinary tempered steel etching needle, by grinding the point back on a carborundum stone, at a 45–60 degree angle.
An etching can be enhanced using a drypoint and burin, by engraving directly onto the plate - whereas in the etching process, the varnish is removed without touching the plate - [note 12] but the line can be coarse and the effect lost after the press has passed.
The young couple gravitated to an isolated fishing village in Nova Scotia for eight months where Peirce established a studio and began producing dry point etchings. The process requires a blank sheet of copper and a sharp needle; every scratch in the copper creates a ridge known as a “burr” which holds the ink.
Etching prints are generally linear and often contain fine detail and contours. Lines can vary from smooth to sketchy. An etching is opposite of a woodcut in that the raised portions of an etching remain blank while the crevices hold ink. A non-toxic form of etching that does not involve an acid is Electroetching.