In this paper, we investigated the amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) film as an alternative material to silicon nitride (SiN) and silicon oxide (SiO(2)) for the passivation layer of solar cells. The a-SiC films were deposited on the p-type silicon (1 0 0) and glass substrates by a RF magnetron sputtering method using a-SiC (99%) target. We investigated the properties according to the deposition RF power (150, 200, 250 and 300 W). The optical properties were investigated by UV-visible spectroscopy and an ellipsometer. The performance of SiC passivation layer was investigated by carrier lifetime measurement. We could obtain the lowest refractive index of 3.22 and the carrier lifetime was the highest, 7 mu s at the deposition RF power of 150 W. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.