Laser-induced backside wet etching (LIBWE) is an indirect etchingtechnique that was first demonstrated for fused silica applying a pyrene doped hydrocarbon solution and was recently demonstrated for gallium as a highly absorbing liquid. In this study the etching of fused silica with mercury as liquid absorber is demonstrated using a nanosecond UV laser (excimer laser λ = 248 nm, 25 ns pulses) radiation. The high absorption coefficient of mercury enforces the absorption of the UV laser radiation within a 100 nm region near the solid interface so that, despite the high reflectivity, the threshold for etching was measured to be 0.76 J cm −2 . With rising laser fluence the etch rate increases nearly linearly in the whole laser fluence range and reaches a value of 650 nm/pulse at a laser fluence of about 10 J cm −2 . The etched surfaces were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and interference microscopy and show well defined etch groove edges and a flat, smooth etched bottom that features an rms roughness of about 2.2 nm. The laser-induced backside etching of fused silica with mercury combines a low etching threshold, high etch rates and a still smooth etching of well-defined patterns into material surfaces.