Hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (a-Si1−xCx : H) films with different carbon concentrations have been deposited using the helicon wave plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition technique under the condition of strong hydrogen dilution. The a-Si1−xCx:H films with carbon content x up to 0.64 have been deposited. Their structural and optical properties are investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman scattering, ultraviolet–visible transmittance spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The deposition rate, optical band gap and B factor related to structural disorder are found to monotonically change in the investigated range with methane–silane gas flow ratios. It is found that the deposited films exist with the structure of Si-like clusters and Si–C networks when silicon content is high, while they consist mainly of C-like clusters and Si–C networks for carbon-rich samples. A large optical band gap is obtained in high carbon concentration samples, which is attributed to the high density characteristic of helicon wave plasmas and the strong hydrogen dilution condition.