In this work, we investigate the operating conditions for RF plasma sources that employ nitrogen-argon gas mixtures for the molecular beam epitaxy growth of dilute nitride, narrow-bandgap semiconductors. The effects of RF power and gas flow rate variations are discussed, wherein a 'critical' RF power level is identified at 300 W. Growths performed at RF powers below this critical setting resulted in noticeably better quality material, which was determined from a comparison of pre- and post-anneal room temperature photoluminescence measurements. In addition to the RF power, the gas flow rate directly influences the growth chamber pressure, which in turn also affects the material quality. A modified pumping configuration was used to decouple the chamber pressure from the gas flow rate. In all growths, lower chamber pressures resulted in better material quality, irregardless of the power setting used. These results suggest that operating the nitrogen RF plasma source at its lowest possible power setting and lowest gas flow rate, while still maintaining a stable plasma, will result in the best quality of dilute nitride materials. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.