Hot, dilute aqueous solutions of hydrofluoric acid (HF) are used to etch silicon nitride films selectively relative to thermally grown silicon dioxide films. Etching is performed in a batch, immersion reactor. The wafers are then rinsed in deionized water and dried with isopropanol vapor. A maximum selectivity of 10.9 to 1 for a 1000:1 HF:H2O dilution at 70 °C is observed. Wafers are etched in hot, dilute HF and cleaned using standard techniques [1]. A thin (12 nm) oxide is then grown and dielectric properties are measured to determine optimum process conditions. For very dilute solutions at lower temperatures, relatively low dielectric strengths (5-6 MV/cm) for the grown oxide are observed, which indicates roughening of the silicon surface. Although the parameter space for exploiting the selective etch process is constrained, a significant range of process conditions exist where selectivity is present and no electrical properties are degraded.