Should I use "a" or "the" for "issue" when I first mention it in a paragraph? Do I need article for "selectivity"?

Question

I am writing a technical report and need some help for verifying the very first sentence:
"This report presents an effective approach to mitigating the prolonged issue of the insufficient wet etching selectivity between metal and oxide."
For the first the, should I use "a" instead?
For the second the, can I omit it? Does "selectivity" require an article?
Many thanks in advance!

Anton · Answer

Is there only one issue of insufficient wet etching selectivity? If so the first "the" is correct. If there are more than one issue, use "a".
If the insufficiency of wet etching is a widely known specific problem known to the readers you could use the second "the" as a demonstrative reference to the problem. Otherwise, omit it.
This answer is consistent with a good summary that appears in
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/definite-article-the

Should I use "a" or "the" for "issue" when I first mention it in a paragraph? Do I need article for "selectivity"?

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