A number of different plasma chemistries, including NF{sub 3}/O{sub 2}, SF{sub 6}/O{sub 2}, SF{sub 6}/Ar, ICl, IBr, Cl{sub 2}/Ar, BCl{sub 3}/Ar and CH{sub 4}/H{sub 2}/Ar, have been investigated for dry etching of 6H and 3C-SiC in a Inductively Coupled Plasma tool. Rates above 2,000 {angstrom} cm{sup {minus}1} are found with fluorine-based chemistries at high ion currents. Surprisingly, Cl{sub 2}-based etching does not provide high rates, even though the potential etch products (SiCi{sub 4} and CCl{sub 4}) are volatile. Photoresist masks have poor selectivity over SiC in F{sub 2}-based plasmas under normal conditions, and ITO or Ni are preferred
