The effects of the CF//4 plasma etching of thermally grown SiO//2 films over Si on the Si-SiO//2 interface have been studied; MOS capacitors were formed on the remaining SiO//2 films in order to evaluate the properties of the Si-SiO//2 interface after plasma etching. The etching was found to induce large densities of interface states. These interface states could be annealed by post-metallization annealing at 450 degree C in N//2 for 10 min.