A process for the selective removal of a substance from a substrate for etching and/or cleaning applications is disclosed herein. In one embodiment, there is provided a process for removing a substance from a substrate comprising: providing the substrate having the substance deposited thereupon wherein the substance comprises a transition metal ternary compound, a transition metal quaternary compound, and combinations thereof; reacting the substance with a process gas comprising a fluorine-containing gas and optionally an additive gas to form a volatile product; and removing the volatile product from the substrate to thereby remove the substance from the substrate.