Two reactive ion etching (RIE) processes were studied to show the relative etch selectivity between SiO2 and Si using two fluorocarbon gases, CF4 and CHF3. Results show that CHF3 gives better selectivity (16:1) over CF4 (1.2 :1). On the other hand, the etch rate of SiO2 of CF4 is approximately 52.8 nm/min, faster than CHF3 (32.4 nm/min).