Hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon carbide (SiC) thin films were deposited on the single-crystal silicon substrate using the helicon wave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (HW-PECVD) technique. The influences of magnetic field and hydrogen dilution ratio on the structures of SiC thin film were investigated with the atomic force microscopy (AFM), the Fourier transform infrared absorption (FTIR) and the transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicate that the high plasma activity of the helicon wave mode proves to be a key factor to grow crystalline SiC thin films at a relative low substrate temperature. Also, the decrease in the grain sizes from the level of microcrystalline to that of nanocrystalline can be achieved by increasing the hydrogen dilution ratios. Transmission electron microscopy measurements reveal that the size of most nanocrystals in the film deposited under the higher hydrogen dilution ratios is smaller than the doubled Bohr radius of 3C-SiC (approximately 5.4 nm), and the light emission measurements also show a strong blue photoluminescence at the room temperature, which is considered to be caused by the quantum confinement effect of small-sized SiC nanocrystals.