The reaction chemistry in the afterglow of a non-equilibrium, capacitive discharge, operated at 600 Torr total pressure with (0.5 to 5.0) × 10 17 cm -3 of oxygen in helium, has been examined by ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy, optical emission spectroscopy, and numerical modeling. The densities of the active species,and O 3 , have been determined as a function of the operating conditions. At RF power densities between 6.1 and 30.5 W/cm 3 and a neutral temperature of 100 ( 40°C, the plasma generated (0.2 to 1.0) × 10 16 cm -3 of O( 3 P) and O 2 ( 1 ∆ g ), (0.2 to 2.0) × 10 15 cm -3 of O 2 ( 1 Σ g + ), and (0.1 to 4.0) × 10 15 cm -3 of O 3 . After the power was turned off, the singlet-sigma and singlet-delta states decayed within 0.1 and 30.0 ms, respectively. The concentration of oxygen atoms remained constant for about 0.5 ms, then fell rapidly due to recombination with O 2 to form O 3 . It was found that the etching rate of polyimide correlated with the concentration of oxygen atoms in the afterglow, indicating that the O atoms were the active species involved in this process.