We have grown amorphous hydrogenated boron carbide thin films by rf plasma decomposition of diborane and methane. The chemical composition, infrared absorption, optical absorption, and microhardness of these thin films were measured. As a function of increasing diborane concentration in the feedstock, we observe increasing boron and hydrogen concentrations, increasing infrared absorption at 1330 cm−1 due to boron icosahedra, increasing optical bandgaps, and an unchanging microhardness in the grown films. The microhardness should have decreased due to the increasing hydrogen concentration; this expected decrease may have been balanced by an increased microhardness due to the boron icosahedra.