A method for forming smooth walled, prismatically-profiled through-wafer vias and articles formed through the method. An etch stop material is provided on a wafer, which may be a silicon wafer. A mask material is provided on the etch stop material and patterned in such a way as to lead to the formation of vias that have at least one pair of opposing side walls that run parallel to a plane in the wafer. A wet etchant, such as potassium hydroxide, is used to etch vias in the wafer. The use of a wet etchant leads to the formation of smooth side walls. This method allows an aspect ratio of height versus width of the vias of greater than 75 to 1.