The use of NF<sub>3</sub> is significantly increasing every year. However, NF<sub>3</sub> is a greenhouse gas with a very high global warming potential. Therefore, the development of a material to replace NF<sub>3</sub> is required. F<sub>3</sub>NO is considered a potential replacement to NF<sub>3</sub>. In this study, the characteristics and cleaning performance of the F<sub>3</sub>NO plasma to replace the greenhouse gas NF<sub>3</sub> were examined. Etching of SiO<sub>2</sub> thin films was performed, the DC offset of the plasma of both gases (i.e., NF<sub>3</sub> and F<sub>3</sub>NO) was analyzed, and a residual gas analysis was performed. Based on the analysis results, the characteristics of the F<sub>3</sub>NO plasma were studied, and the SiO<sub>2</sub> etch rates of the NF<sub>3</sub> and F<sub>3</sub>NO plasmas were compared. The results show that the etch rates of the two gases have a difference of 95% on average, and therefore, the cleaning performance of the F<sub>3</sub>NO plasma was demonstrated, and the potential benefit of replacing NF<sub>3</sub> with F<sub>3</sub>NO was confirmed.