A method of etching a substrate is described. The method includes disposing a substrate having a surface exposing a first material and a second material in a processing space of a plasma processing system, and performing a modulated plasma etching process to selectively remove the first material at a rate greater than removing the second material. The modulated plasma etching process comprises a power modulation cycle having sequential power application steps that includes: applying a radio frequency (RF) signal to the plasma processing system at a first power level, applying the RF signal to the plasma processing system at a second power level, and applying the RF signal to the plasma processing system at a third power level. Thereafter, the power modulation cycle is repeated at least one more cycle, wherein each modulation cycle includes a modulation time period.