Embodiments of the disclosure generally relate to a method for dry stripping a boron carbide layer deposited on a semiconductor substrate. In one embodiment, the method includes loading the substrate with the boron carbide layer into a pressure vessel, exposing the substrate to a processing gas comprising an oxidizer at a pressure between about 500 Torr and 60 bar, heating the pressure vessel to a temperature greater than a condensation point of the processing gas and removing one or more products of a reaction between the processing gas and the boron carbide layer from the pressure vessel.