Exemplary methods for laterally etching silicon nitride may include flowing a fluorine-containing precursor and an oxygen-containing precursor into a remote plasma region of a semiconductor processing chamber. The methods may include forming a plasma within the remote plasma region to generate plasma effluents of the fluorine-containing precursor and the oxygen-containing precursor. The methods may also include flowing the plasma effluents into a processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber. A substrate may be positioned within the processing region, and the substrate may include a trench formed through stacked layers including alternating layers of silicon nitride and silicon oxide. The methods may also include laterally etching the layers of silicon nitride from sidewalls of the trench while substantially maintaining the layers of silicon oxide. The layers of silicon nitride may be laterally etched less than 10 nm from the sidewalls of the trench.
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