The use of a non-thermal source which is capable of operation at 760 torr is demonstrated. As an example of the application of the present invention, a helim/oxygen gas mixture is introduced into the annular region (20) between two coaxial electrodes (14) driven by a 13.56 MHz radio frequency (RF) source (18) at between 40 and 500 W to produce a stable plasma jet. As detected by optical emission spectroscopy (OES), a high flux of metastable oxygen and no ions are present at the exit of this plasma jet. Silicon dioxide films are deposited by introducing tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) into the effluent stream. A deposition rate of 3020 +/- 250 ANGSTROM /min. is achieved with an RF power of 400 W, 0.2 torr of TEOS, 11.1 torr of oxygen, 748.7 torr of helium, and a total gas flow rate of 41 L/m.