Excimer laser photochemistry of silane-ammonia mixtures at 193 nm

The ArF excimer laser induced photochemistry of silane-ammonia mixtures has been studied with molecular beam sampling mass spectrometry. The observed products include disilane, trisilane, and all possible aminosilanes, SiH{sub x}(NH{sub 2}){sub 4-x}, x = 0-3. These products are formed under steady-state photolysis conditions and under single-laser-pulse conditions. A mechanism for the formation of these species is proposed and quantitatively evaluated.