VUV photoionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry of flash pyrolysis of silane and disilane

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/S0009-2614(01)00739-4

Flash pyrolysis of silane, SiH₄, and disilane, Si₂H₆, diluted in He or Ar (1%), was carried out at temperatures ranging from ~700 to ~1500 K. After a short reaction time of ~20 μs, the initial products were isolated in a supersonic molecular beam and detected by single vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) photon (λ=118or121nm) ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS). Initial decomposition and reaction products, both free radical intermediates and stable species, were directly observed, which included SiH₂ and Si₂H₄.