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The structural evolution and optical characterization of hydrogenated silicon (Si:H) thin films obtained by conventional radio frequency (RF) plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) through decomposition of silane diluted with argon were studied by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and ultraviolet and visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, respectively. The influence of argon dilution on the optical properties of the thin films was also studied. It is found that argon as dilution gas plays a significant role in the growth of nano-crystal grains and amorphous network in Si:H thin films. The structural evolution of the thin films with different argon dilution ratios is observed and it is suggested that argon plasma leads to the nanocrystallization in the thin films during the deposition process. The nanocrystallization initiating at a relatively low dilution ratio is also observed. With the increase of argon portion in the mixed precursor gases, nano-crystal grains in the thin films evolve regularly. The structural evolution is explained by a proposed model based on the energy exchange between the argon plasma constituted with Ar and Ar+ radicals and the growth regions of the thin films. It is observed that both the absorption of UV-vis light and the optical gap decrease with the increase of dilution ratio.