The structural properties of low temperature plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited SiO2films using Si2H6and N 2O have been studied. It is observed that the degree of compaction of as‐deposited SiO2films, upon subsequent annealing, increases up to 4%. The shift of Si‐O‐Si stretching peak wave number of the as‐deposited SiO 2films (&Dgr;&ohgr;=−20 cm−1) compared to the undensified SiO 2films is attributed to 9.4% increase in the film density, resulting in smaller Si‐O‐Si bridging bond angle of 138°. It is also believed that the high temperature annealing results in the reduction of hydroxyl containing species in the film and in turn drives the dielectric constant towards that of thermal SiO2films. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.