Several different reactive gases were introduced into an ion-beam-assisted deposition system as precursors to achieve low temperature synthesis of Si-C films. The substrate on which the films were grown was bombarded concurrently by an argon ion beam. By using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy and elastic recoil detection, it was shown that the films produced had a range of C/Si ratios from carbon rich to silicon rich and doped with argon and hydrogen. The coatings with near-stoichiometric composition demonstrated a Knoop hardness higher than that of bulk SIC materials. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed a binding energy shift resulting from ion bombardment.