Electron temperature and density in pure He, Ar, and Xe plasmas are estimated by zero-dimensional particle and power balance equations and measured by a Langmuir probe. Both of the modeling and experimental results show that the He (Xe) plasma has the highest (lowest) electron temperature and lowest (highest) electron density for a given fill pressure and source power. We find that the electron temperature is weakly dependent on the rf power, and thus the electron density can be controlled using the rf power. The electron temperature and density are also modeled and measured in mixtures of two noble gas species. We find that the electron temperature can be controlled by altering the composition of the noble gas mixture. Thus modulation of noble gas admixture ratios and rf power allows the electron density and temperature to be controlled independently. This independent control is shown to maintained with the addition of up to 20% partial pressure of oxygen, suggesting binary noble gas admixtures may provide additional control of dissociation kinetics. (C) 2004 American Vacuum Society.