We have carried out a comprehensive study of the Raman spectra ofa‐Si:H films produced by the glow discharge (GD) and radio frequency sputtering (RFS) deposition techniques. The results show that the short‐range disorder (bond‐angle deviation), as measured by the width of the TO band (&Ggr;TO), is larger in RFS than in GDa‐Si:H films. The intermediate‐range disorder (dihedral angle deviation), as measured by the ratio of the intensity of the TA band to that of the TO band (ITA/ITO), is generally larger in RFS than in GDa‐Si:H films. However, while theITA/ITOvalues of RFS films remain relatively close to those of GD films when the interior is probed, the near surface of RFS films shows much larger values evidencing the existence of a significant disorder gradient along the growth axis. Together, these results indicate that the network order and homogeneity of RFS amorphous silicon is lower than those of GD for substrate temperatures that produce the hydrogenated material. These structural differences are interpreted in terms of the differences between the two film growth processes and are believed to be the reason for the poorer transport properties of RFSa‐Si:H films. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.