Silicon carbide (SiC) films were prepared by chemical vapor deposition using dimethyldichlorosilane [(CH3)(2)SiCl2, DDS] as the reactant. The deposition experiments were carried out in a hotwall quartz tube reactor, and the reaction temperature was in the range 1140-1340 K. beta-SiC films were obtained at a low reaction temperature of 1140 K (867 degrees C). A chemical vapor deposition reaction follows two paths : a gas-phase reaction and a surface reaction. To clarify whether deposition occurs via the direct reaction of DDS with the surface or via an intermediate formed in the gas phase, the effect of the ratio of the reactor volume to the substrate surface area on deposition rate is investigated. Modeling the growth rate data using two mechanisms, one assuming that the DDS is the SiC precursor and the other assuming that the pre cursor forms by the gas-phase decomposition of DDS, indicates that the primary reaction path involves a gas-phase reaction. Furthermore, the reaction rate is first order with respect to DDS concentration. The reaction rate equation of the SiC deposition was determined in the temperature range 1140-1340 K, and the activation energy was found to be 354 kJ/mol.