We have applied pulse-shaped biasing to the expanding thermal plasma deposition of hydrogenated amorphous silicon at substrate temperatures 200 ° C and growth rates around 1 nm/s. Substrate voltage measurements and measurements with a retarding field energy analyzer demonstrate the achieved control over the ion energy distribution for deposition on conductive substrates and for deposition of conductive materials on nonconductive substrates. Presence of negative ions/particles in the Ar– H 2 – SiH 4 plasma is deduced from a voltage offset during biasing. Densification of the material at low Urbach energies is observed at a deposited energy 4.8 eV/ Si atom and attributed to an increase in surface mobility of mobile species as well as well as surface atom displacement. The subsequent increase in Urbach energy 4.8 eV/ Si atom is attributed to bulk atom displacement in subsurface layers. We make the unique experimental abservation of a decreasing Tauc band gap at increasing total hydrogen concentration—this allows to directly relate the band gap of amorphous silicon to the presence of nanovoids in the material. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.