Effect of trimethylsilane pressure on hot-wire chemical vapor deposition chemistry using vacuum ultraviolet laser ionization mass spectrometry

In this study, the authors investigated the effect of sample pressure on the reaction chemistry of trimethylsilane (TriMS) in the hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. The secondary gas-phase reaction products were examined in a reactor with varying TriMS pressures. The reaction products were analyzed using a laser ionization source with a vacuum ultraviolet wavelength of 118 nm, coupled with mass spectrometry. By increasing TriMS pressure, methane formation was observed. To our knowledge, this is the first successful use of either open-chain alkylsilanes or four-membered-ring (di)silacyclobutane molecules as an independent precursor gas in the hot-wire CVD reactor to achieve methane formation. Our results showed that methane was formed mainly from the radical chain reactions with minor contributions from molecular elimination. The increase in the sample pressure also led to the formation of other small hydrocarbon molecules including acetylene, ethene, propyne, and propene. The formation of hydrogen molecules was enhanced when the sample pressure was increased. In addition, the change in the sample pressure had a direct effect on the radical recombination and disproportionation reactions. This is reflected in the different behavior assumed by the main products from these two types of reactions, i.e., tetramethylsilane, hexamethyldisilane from the former, and three methyl-substituted disilacyclobutanes from the latter. The trapping of free radicals resulting from the in-situ produced ethene and propene molecules is responsible for the observed difference.