Electron beam evaporation of TiC powder has been used to deposit TiC thin films on room temperature silicon wafers with and without simultaneous assistance of low energy bombardment of Ar+ at 0-450 eV. The composition of the TiC films was studied by Auger electron spectroscopy, while the preferential orientation of the deposited film and phase composition were determined by X-ray diffraction. We have investigated the influence of the carbon and oxygen content on both the morphological and mechanical properties of the TiC films. The influence on the film properties and their composition of the ion beam acceleration voltage, argon flow, operating pressure as well as the ion impact angle were also investigated. Nanoindentation tests indicate that the synthesised TIC films exhibit both a high hardness (12-18 GPa) and a high deposition rate (1.5 mum/h).