(100)-oriented silicon substrates were oxidized in a mixture of oxygen and carbon dioxide at temperatures in the range 900 to 1100 degrees C. The oxidation rate was found to decrease significantly with increasing concentration of CO2 in O-2. The linear and the parabolic rate constants were extracted and their corresponding activation energies were calculated to be 48.4 +/- 2.8 and 25.4 +/- 3.0 kcal/mol, respectively. Comparison with Si oxidation in N-2/O-2 mixture revealed that CO2 not only reduces the partial pressure of oxygen but it also offers additional retardation to the oxide growth. Capacitance-voltage measurements on gate oxides grown in CO2/O-2 mixture showed a significant change in metal oxide semiconductor parameters like threshold voltage, background doping concentration, and interface state density when compared with reference metal oxide semiconductor capacitors. Capacitance-time measurements revealed a significant degradation in the generation lifetime for CO2/O-2 grown gate oxides.