Abstract Oxidation kinetics of silicon oxide films formed by rapid thermal oxidizing Si substrate in $N_2$O ambient studied. The data on $N_2$0 oxidation shows that the interfacial nitrogen-rich layers results in oxide growth in the parabolic regime by impeding oxidant diffusion to the Si$O_2$-Si interface even for ultrathin oxides. The activation energy of parablic rate constant, B, is about 1.5 eV, and the energy increses with oxide thickness.