Maintaining dimensional control and adequate throughput during the etching of submicron features requires plasma etch tools that operate at low pressures and high densities, such as inductively coupled plasmas (ICPs). Unfortunately, in this regime, it has proven difficult to achieve a stable, reproducible chemistry for selective oxide etching of contacts and vias. In particular, it is difficult to control the passivating polymer film which provides etching selectivity to silicon, nitride, and photoresist. As a first step toward sorting out the complicated oxide etching chemistry, we have measured and modeled the kinetics of the polymer film deposition in an ICP reactor for C2F6/H-2 and CHF3 chemistries. Using a unique application of statistical design of experiments, we have explored the pressure range of 3-15 mTorr, power range of 300-2000 W, residence times from 0.5 to 1.0 s, and magnetic field from 0 to 24 G. Polymer deposition rates on a bare Si wafer are measured using a laser interferometer. The concentration of fluorocarbon radicals, CF, CF2, and CF3, are measured in the plasma using wavelength modulated infrared diode laser absorption spectroscopy. Additional measurements include actinometric F atom density and ion saturation current. These measurements are analyzed in terms of a polymer deposition model and the important physical phenomena are inferred. Significantly, we find a unique polymer deposition mechanism over the entire range of tool parameters including direct deposition of CF and ion-assisted deposition of CF2.