Several monolayers thick hydrogenated carbon films, C:H, were prepared by ion beam deposition from hydrocarbon process gases onto Pt and monolayer C covered Pt single crystal surfaces and investigated with Auger electron and thermal desorption spectroscopies in an UHV environment. Efficient deposition was achieved at ion energies in the 160–300 eV range. The deposited thickness and H/C ratio of the films depend on both, target temperature and H/C ratio of the process gas. It is shown that the C monolayer is crucial for efficient on‐top deposition. Irrespective of the process gas used for deposition, the films grow as a C network and assume a constant H/C ratio at thicknesses greater than ∼ 3 monolayers. The H/C ratio of the films scale with the H content of the hydrocarbon process gas, a H/C ratio of 0.4 was obtained for ethane at 350 K substrate temperature. Upon thermally activated decomposition the films release molecular hydrogen as the major gaseous species and various hydrocarbons as minority species. The latter products signal chemical erosion of the film. It is shown that the rate determining step towards erosion via methane is a C–C bond breaking event which releases methyl radicals from the C network in the film. The activation energies for this step are determined as a 10 kcal/mol wide Gaussian distribution centered at 56 kcal/mol. Transport through the film is found to be so fast that it does not contribute to the observed gas release rates. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.