We have investigated dry-etching properties of polycrystalline beta-FeSi2 films formed by ion-beam sputter-deposition (IBSD) and the films epitaxially grown on Si by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) in order to realize fabrication of photonic crystals with several hundreds nanometers in dimension. Using reactive ion etching with magnetic neutral loop discharge (NLD) plasma, we succeeded in realizing a comparatively higher etching rate than that obtained by inductively coupled plasma (ICP). Both reactive ion etching and impact ion etching modes may contribute to etching of beta-FeSi2. We have fabricated a two-dimensional photonic crystal of beta-FeSi2 on Si substrates and confirmed its predicted photonic properties in a reflectance spectrum of polarized light. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.