The effect of the deposition conditions of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) SiO2 layers on the electrical properties of 4H-SiC Schottky rectifiers is reported. In a SiH4/N2O plasma chemistry, the reverse breakdown voltage, forward turn-on voltage, and on-state resistance of the rectifiers all increase with increasing plasma power and SiH4 content and decreasing deposition pressure. The maximum changes in all these parameters were less than or equal to20% over a broad range of plasma conditions and show that 4H-SiC is relatively resistant to changes induced by the ion bombardment and high atomic hydrogen flux present during PECVD of dielectrics for surface passivation. (C) 2002 The Electrochemical Society.