Good quality, low temperature silicon nitride and oxynitride films were deposited downstream from an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma source using SiH4and N2gas mixtures. The Si/N ratio and H content in the deposited films were determined using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and elastic recoil detection. The H concentration was minimum for films with compositions closest to that of stoichiometric Si3N4. The optimum conditions for producing a stoichiometric Si3N4were a SiH4/N2flow ratio between 0.1 and 0.2, and an electrically isolated sample far from the ECR source. Infrared absorption spectra showed that as the film composition changed from N rich to Si rich the dominant bonds associated with H changed from N–H to Si–H.