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Abstract

A process for etching a substrate 25 in an etching chamber 105, and simultaneously removing etch residue deposited on the surfaces of the walls 110 and components of the etching chamber 105. In one version, a two-stage method of opening a nitride mask layer on the substrate includes a first stage of providing a highly chemically reactive process gas in the chamber 105 to etch the nitride layer 32 and/or an underlying oxide layer 34, and a second stage of providing a less chemically reactive process gas in the chamber to etch the nitride layer 32 and/or the oxide layer 34 at a slower rate than the first stage. The first and second stage process gases may each comprise a fluorine containing gas, with the fluorine ratio of the first gas higher than the fluorine ratio of the second gas.

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First Claim