The inductive coupled plasma etching of as-prepared and annealed hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (a-Si1-xCx,:H) films using CF4/O-2 chemistry is reported. The etch rate of the as-prepared films decreases when the carbon content in the films decreases. The etch rate also reduces drastically when the films are annealed. The infrared spectroscopy results show the effusion of hydrogen when the film is annealed. A reduction in the porosity of the films causes the decrease in the etch rate. The etch rates of a-Si0.5C0.5: H and a-SiO3C0.7: H films increase with the addition of oxygen (O-2) to CF4 and reached a maximum value at 30%-20% of O-2, respectively. The etch rates for all the films show similar trends as functions of reactive ion etching power, inductively coupled plasma power, and chamber pressure. It has been observed that above a critical dc bias of -400 V, the etch rate is found to be dependent more significantly on the ion flux than ion bombardment. (C) 2003 American Vacuum Society.