Films are deposited from targets by RF planar magnetron sputtering in hydrogen‐argon mixtures. Properties of the films are measured and compared with films deposited in only an argon mixture and thermally grown films. The following points are clarified by our experiments. The addition of hydrogen to the sputtering gas prevents the formation of film structures having microvoids, which appear when only argon is used. This results in film densification and a smooth surface texture. The addition of hydrogen greatly improves film property uniformities over the substrate. Infrared absorption spectra and Auger electron spectra show that the films sputtered in hydrogen‐argon mixtures are indistinguishable in composition from the films by other methods.