Ab initio chemical kinetic study for reactions of H atoms with SiH(4) and Si(2)H(6): comparison of theory and experiment.

The reactions of hydrogen atom with silane and disilane are relevant to the understanding of catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD) and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) processes. In the present study, these reactions have been investigated by means of ab initio molecular-orbital and transition-state theory calculations. In both reactions, the most favorable pathway was found to be the H abstraction leading to the formation of SiH(3) and Si(2)H(5) products, with 5.1 and 4.0 kca/mol barriers, respectively. For H + Si(2)H(6), another possible reaction pathway giving SiH(3) + SiH(4) may take place with two different mechanisms with 4.3 and 6.7 kcal/mol barriers for H-atom attacking side-way and end-on, respectively. To validate the calculated energies of the reactions, two isodesmic reactions, SiH(3)+CH(4)-->SiH(4)+CH(3) and Si(2)H(5)+C(2)H(6)-->Si(2)H(6)+C(2)H(5) were employed; the predicted heats of the formation for SiH(3) (49.0 kcal/mol) and Si(2)H(5) (58.6 kcal/mol) were found to agree well with the experimental data. Finally, rate constants for both H-abstraction reactions predicted in the range of 290-2500 K agree well with experimental data. The result also shows that H+Si(2)H(6) producing H(2)+Si(2)H(5) is more favorable than SiH(3)+SiH(4.).