N-type nanocrystalline 3C-SiC films were prepared by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition from SiH4/CH4/H-2 and N-2 as a doping gas and the structural and electrical properties were investigated. The gas flow rates of SiH4, CH4 and H2 were 1, 1 and 200 sccm, respectively. As the N-2 gas flow rate was increased from 0 to 10 sccm, the conductivity and the activation energy improved from 0.05 to 0.3 S/cm and from 45 to 28 meV, respectively. The Hall Effect measurement proved that the improvement of the electrical properties was caused by the increase in the carrier concentration. On the other hand, in the N-2 gas flow rate between 10 and 50 sccm, the conductivity and the activation energy remained unchanged. The crystallinity deteriorated with increasing N-2 gas flow rate. This gave rise to the unchanged electronic properties in spite of the increase in the intake of N atoms. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.