The etching characteristics of evaporation-deposited indium tin oxide (ITO) films in BCl3/Cl-2 inductively coupled plasmas have been studied. High etch rates >200 nm/min were obtained at large BCl3/Cl-2 gas flow ratios and high rf chuck powers, suggesting that the etching process is limited by sputter desorption of InClx and SnClx compounds. The addition of a small amount of CF4, which acts as reducing agent, increased the etch rate by 30% and resulted in very smooth etched surfaces. It has also been found that the material crystallinity has a pronounced influence on ITO etch rate. ITO films annealed at 500 degrees C exhibited the maximum etch resistance. (C) 2010 American Vacuum Society. [DOI: 10.1116/1.3280919]