Patent ID: 8093155

Claim:
A method of etching materials, comprising: forming a photoresist material over at least two materials over a semiconductor substrate, wherein a first of the at least two materials is formed over the semiconductor substrate and a second of the at least two materials is formed on the first of the at least two materials; removing portions of the photoresist material; curing the photoresist material by generating a plasma of a first etching gas at a first power level and contacting the photoresist material and the first of the at least two materials with the first power level plasma for a first predetermined time; etching the first of the at least two materials by generating a plasma of a second etching gas at a second power level and contacting the first of the at least two materials with the second power level plasma for a second predetermined time, wherein the second power level plasma is greater than the first power level plasma; and etching the second of the at least two materials using the plasma of the second etching gas at the second power level and contacting the second of the at least two materials with the second power level plasma for a third predetermined time, wherein the etching of the second of the at least two materials includes a different set of gas flow rates from the etching of the first of the at least two materials.