Abstract Use of non-contact test techniques to characterize degradation of the Si-SiO2 system on the wafer surface exposed to a plasma environment have proven themselves to be sensitive and useful in investigation of plasma charging level and uniformity. The current paper describes application of the surface charge analyzer and surface photo-voltage tool to explore process-induced charging occurring during plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of TEOS oxide. The oxide charge, the interface state density, and dopant deactivation are studied on blanket oxidized wafers with respect to the effect of oxide deposition, power lift step, and subsequent annealing.