In this paper, Kelvin-probe measurements, antenna transistors, and electrically programmable read-only memory cells are used to minimize the influence of hardware marginality on charging damage during plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of dielectric films. It is shown that charging during tetraethosiloxane (TEOS) deposition can be reduced by increasing the deposition pressure and optimizing the plasma ramp-down after deposition. It is also demonstrated that differences in the charging performance between tools from different vendors during the deposition of silicon-rich oxides can be smoothed out if a double radio frequency process replaces the traditional single radio frequency deposition.