Intrinsic silicon thin films have been deposited with high and low dilution of hydrogen in silane by radio frequency powered plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition method at varying substrate temperatures (200 degreesCless than or equal toT(s)less than or equal to370 degreesC). Structural and transport properties of these films have been studied. With high hydrogen dilution, all the films are microcrystalline over the range of T-s investigated. The grain size (similar to300 Angstrom) does not change with T-s but the diffusion length of minority carriers decreases from 200 to 90 nm. With low hydrogen dilution a clear transition from amorphous to microcrystalline phase occurs with increase in T-s. The grain size increases from 88 to 350 A for the microcrystalline films along with an increase in diffusion length from 90 to 135 nm. The correlation between the structural and transport properties are discussed in terms of hydrogen incorporation in the films. We conclude that low T-s with high hydrogen dilution and high T-s with low hydrogen dilution are two possible combinations for deposition of device quality microcrystalline films. (C) 2003 American Vacuum Society.