The laser-induced backside etching of fused silica with gallium as highly absorbing backside absorber using pulsed infrared Nd:YAG laser radiation is demonstrated for the first time. The influence of the laser fluence, the pulse number, and the pulse length on the etch rate and the etched surface topography was studied. The comparable high threshold fluences of about 3 and 7 J/cm(2) for 18 and 73 ns pulses, respectively, are caused by the high reflectivity of the fused silica-gallium interface and the high thermal conductivity of gallium. For the 18 and 73 ns long pulses the etch rate rises almost linearly with the laser fluence and reaches a value of 350 and 300 nm/pulse at a laser fluence of about 12 and 28 J/cm(2), respectively. Incubation processes are almost absent because etching is already observed with the first laser pulse at all etch conditions and the etch rate is constant up to 30 pulses. The etched grooves are Gaussian-curved and show well-defined edges and a smooth bottom. The roughness measured by interference microscopy was 1.5 nm rms at an etch depth of 0.6 mu m. The laser-induced backside etching with gallium is a promising approach for the industrial application of the backside etching technique with IR Nd:YAG laser. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.