Particle contamination of silicon dioxide wafers was studied in a Tegal MCR-1 etch system. The goal of the work was to understand the effect of ramping versus stepping the rf power and the effect of a magnetically induced local particle trap in close proximity to the wafer on wafer contamination. The effect of ramping the rf power versus not ramping the rf power on wafer contamination was studied to test a hypothesis that ramping the power would cause a reduction in wafer contamination [G. S. Selwyn, J. E. Heidenreich, and K. L. Haller, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 9, 2817 (1991)]. For this reactor the results were inconclusive, but suggested that gas flow patterns played a dominant role. Wafers were passed through an etch process with and without a magnetically induced particle trap. The results suggested particle deposition was increased in the presence of the trap, however, the number of particles added was of the same magnitude as the standard deviation.