Cryogenic deep etching of silicon is investigated using SO2 for passivating the sidewalls of the etched features. The passivating efficiency of SO2 in a SF6/SO2 inductively coupled plasma is assessed comparatively with the traditional SF6/O2 chemistry by means of mass spectrometry and optical emission spectroscopy diagnostics. Emphasis is placed on the evolution of the density of various neutral species (e.g. SiF4, F, O, SOxFy, SFx ). These measurements allow us to determine the SO2/SF6 and O2/SF6 gas flow ratios above which a passivation layer forms and inhibits silicon etching. Furthermore, different reaction schemes are proposed to explain the variations in relative densities measured for the two plasma chemistries. In SF6/SO2 plasmas, surface reactions involving SOF and SO2 species with F radicals are favoured, providing a greater number of SOF2 and SO2F2 molecules in the gas phase. In SF6/O2 plasmas, a higher rate of O radicals available for reacting with SFx species can account for the greater concentration in SOF4 molecules. However, these trends are significant for high passivating gas concentrations only. This is consistent with the similar etch results obtained for both chemistries when etching silicon at cryogenic temperatures with a low percentage of passivating gas.