A dry etching apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that an etching process is applied to a sample by using both physical etching means and chemical etching means. To perform such an etching process, the dry etching apparatus is provided with a chamber for accommodating a sample to be etched, a suction unit for reducing a pressure within the chamber, a gas introducing unit for introducing a reactive gas from the external into said chamber, an excitation unit to excite the reactive gas for producing activated species allowing the sample to be etched due to chemical reaction, and an ion irradiation unit for irradiating ions to the sample, thereby making it possible to independently control the energy or density of ions and the density of the activated species, thus setting optimum etching conditions in conformity with a material to be etched or an etching pattern.