Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) measurements were carried out in order to characterize the optical properties of silicon nanoscale inclusions (Si-ni) contained in silicon-rich silicon nitride (SRSN) films. These films were deposited using the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique followed by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) during 1 min. We focus our study on the influence of the deposition and annealing conditions - such as the ammonia to silane flow ratio R, the annealing atmosphere and temperature - on the optical responses of the SRSN layers and the behavior of the Si-ni dielectric functions. Our results suggest that the variation of R affects in a more significant way the structure and optical properties of the SRSN films than the change of the annealing gas or temperature. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.