Titanium silicide films were successfully prepared from TiCl4/H-2, by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Xray diffraction measurements showed that the films were polycrystalline and have the low resistivity phase C54-TiSi2. Contamination with chlorine could not be detected. however. oxygen contamination on the film surface was detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The films were uniform and the TiSi2/substrate interface was clear and smooth. An excessive silicon substrate etching was observed when the substrate was heated by plasma. By controlling the reaction temperature and/or introducing hydrogen to the reaction gas system, it could be possible to deposit homogenous titanium silicide film and reduce silicon etching. These results could be explained reasonably based on thermodynamic calculations. (C), 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.