Indium Phosphide (InP) based multilayer structures are becoming increasingly important in the semiconductor industry with optoelectronic applications being the main growth area. Mesa type structures with finely controlled width and etch angle, often form the building blocks for many of these photonic devices. Traditional wet etching techniques have often proved to be inadequate for the required anisotropie removal of material. This paper presents the results of etching semi-insulating InP (100) using a combination of an Argon ion beam and a reactive gas, CCl2F2 (Freon 12). It was found that the etch rate was enhanced by increasing the ion energy and by the addition of CCl2F2. Auger electron spectroscopy revealed that the increased etch rate was accompanied by an increase in the surface indium concentration and at low ion beam energies carbon build-up retarded the etch rate. The optimum etch angle to fabricate 3μm waveguides was found to be 22° to the surface normal, however Schottky contacts to these structures were unsuccessful.