The two most important parameters in reactive ion etching process, ion bombardment energy and flux, were extracted through a simple RF waveform measurement at the excitation electrode in a conventional cathode-coupled plasma RIE system. By using the extracted plasma parameters, damage and contamination in Si substrates induced by reactive ion etching in a SiCl4 plasma were investigated. A very convenient map representation of ion energy and ion flux was introduced in understanding the etching process occurring in the RIE system.