A high growth rate (35 Angstrom /s) and a high crystalline volume fraction (73%) were achieved in micro-crystalline silicon (muc-Si) films prepared by Helicon wave plasma CVD. Its high plasma density and low ion energy seem to promote the high growth rate. It was also found that (111) oriented muc-Si films can be obtained by reducing the self-bias voltage, probably due to less ion damage to the growing surfaces. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.