Intrinsic and n-type hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon thin films (nc-Si:H) were deposited at a temperature as low as 95 degreesC by high-frequency (HF) sputtering, with hydrogen dilution percentage varying from 31% to 73%. In order to study the properties of the films prepared by this method, the samples were examined by infrared absorption spectroscopy (IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), SEM, spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), laser Raman spectrometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM). XRD measurements showed that this film has a new microstructure, which is different from the films deposited by other methods. In addition, an n-type nc-Si:H/p-type c-Si heterojunction solar cell, which has an open circuit voltage (V-OC) of 370MV and a short-circuit current intensity (J(SC)) of 6.5 mA/cm(2), was produced on the nanocrystalline silicon thin film. After 10 h light exposure under AM1.5 (100 MW/cm(2)) light intensity at room temperature, radiation degradation has not been found for the device. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.