Under certain conditions during ITO etching using CH4/H-2/Ar inductively coupled plasmas, the etch rate selectivity of ITO to photoresist (PR) was infinitely high because the ITO films continued to be etched, but a net deposition of the alpha-CH layer occurred on the top of the PR. Analyses of plasmas and etched ITO surfaces suggested that the continued consumption of the carbon and hydrogen in the deposited alpha-C:H layer by their chemical reaction with In and Sri atoms in the ITO resulting in the generation of volatile metal-organic etch products and by the ion-enhanced removal of the alpha-C:H layer presumably play important roles in determining the ITO etch rate and selectivity. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.