The effect of high-frequency (HF) frequency on etching characteristics of SiCOH films in a CHF3 dualfrequency capacitively couple plasma driven by 13.56 MHz/2 MHz, 27.12 MHz/2 MHz or 60 MHz/2 MHz sources was investigated in this work. The surface structure of the films after etching and the CHF3 discharge plasma were characterized. The increase of HF frequency reduced the critical HF power for the etching, suppressed the C:F deposition at the surface of etched films, and improved the etching of SiCOH films. The improvement of etching was attributed to the increase of ions energy and F concentration at high HF frequency. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.