The surface charging effect in hybrid dc/rf capacitively coupled plasmas is investigated by particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo simulations with an equivalent-circuit module. When the thickness of the dielectric is fixed, the self-bias dc voltage induced by the charge accumulated in the dielectric first increases and then decreases with increased dc voltage. The ratio of electron-to-ion charge flowing into the dielectric increases from -1.195 to -2.582. Increasing the dc voltage results in the number of high-energy ions bombarding the dielectric decreasing. The average electron energy at the dielectric decreases to the minimum value at the biggest self-bias dc voltage in the beginning and then rapidly increases. While fixing the dc source with thickening the dielectric, the self-bias dc voltage rises, but the charge ratio decreases. The average electron energy decreases monotonically and the ion-energy distributions (IEDs) at the dielectric are shifted toward the higher energy region. The results imply that the applied dc voltage may increase the electron flux and average energy to the dielectric at the cost of reduced etching rate, which may mitigate the notching effect. The applied dc voltage can also serve as a tool to modulate the ion IEDs. At the same time, a thicker dielectric will require higher applied dc voltage. (C) 2010 American Vacuum Society. [DOI: 10.1116/1.3305537]