A disadvantage of ICP type plasma etching method compared with CCP one is low selectivity to photo resist. So a novel etching method was developed to obtain high selectivity to photo resist by incorporating a sputtering method, in which a target was placed on the opposite side of the substrate. Satisfactory results were obtained for a continuous gas feeding treatment and also for a gas modulating treatment. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.