Chemically assisted ion beam etching of GaAs-based materials using Cl-2 reactive gas was has been experimentally and theoretically examined. The primary effort was the design of an etching system for high reproducibility and improved throughput. Characteristics of the etching process, i.e., etch rate, etch profiles, and surface morphology as a function of etching parameters, i.e., substrate temperature,Cl-2 flow rate, ion current density, and energy are reported. In addition, we have analyzed the etched surfaces qualitatively by Auger electron spectroscopy, and quantitatively by atomic force microscopy. The developed process yielded stoichiometric and smooth GaAs surfaces. Moreover, in order to understand the mechanism of the Cl-2 etching reaction with GaAs, a simulation of the etch profile evolution with time as function of etching parameters was carried out. Simulations were compared with experimentally derived data and were found to be in good agreement. Finally, the developed process was successfully applied to the fabrication of ridge waveguides GaAs/GaAlAs lasers with cw optical characteristics similar to wet chemical etched lasers. © 2005 American Vacuum Society.