Hydrogenated amorphous carbon nitride (a-CN:H) thin films were deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) using the gas mixture of CH4, NH3 and H-2 precursor gases. The structural and electronic environments studies of H-2 diluted a-CN: H films were carried out by Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The nitrogen content increases while the total carbon contents decreases with increase in H-2 flow rate from 0 sccm to 20 sccm in the a-CN: H films. Moreover, the detail analysis of the carbon core orbital, valence band and hole states of a-CN: H were discussed with different H-2 flow rate. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.