Ion beam sputter deposition of $$\hbox {SiO}_2$$ SiO 2 thin films using oxygen ions

$$\hbox {SiO}_2$$ SiO 2 thin films were grown by ion beam sputter deposition using oxygen ions under systematic variation of ion energy and geometrical parameters (ion incidence angle, polar emission angle, scattering angle). The $$\hbox {SiO}_{{2}}$$ SiO 2 thin films were characterized with respect to film thickness, growth rate, surface roughness, crystallinity, mass density, and optical properties. The growth rates show an over-cosine, forward-tilted angular distribution. It is increasing with increasing ion energy and increasing ion incidence angle. The films were found to be amorphous with a root mean square roughness between 0.34 nm and 0.54 nm. The mass density increases slightly with increasing ion energy. Optical properties vary only slightly. At small scattering angles, the index of refraction is increasing with decreasing ion energy or increasing ion incidence angle. At large scattering angles, it is vice versa, i.e., the index of refraction is decreasing with decreasing ion energy or increasing ion incidence angle. The data are compared and discussed with previous studies of the ion beam sputter deposition of $$\hbox {SiO}_2$$ SiO 2 thin films using Ar or Xe ions (Mateev et al. in Eur Phys J B 91:45, 2018).