Understanding the Reaction Chemistry of 1,1,3,3-Tetramethyldisilazane as a Precursor Gas in a Catalytic Chemical Vapor Deposition Process.

ABSTRACT

The reaction chemistry of 1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisilazane (TMDSZ) in catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD), including its primary decomposition on a heated W filament and secondary gas-phase reactions in a Cat-CVD reactor, was studied using 10.5 eV vacuum ultraviolet single-photon ionization and/or laser-induced electron ionization in tandem with time-of-flight mass spectrometry. It has been demonstrated that TMDSZ initially breaks down to form various species, including methyl radical (•CH3), ammonia (NH3), and 1,1-dimethylsilanimine (DMSA). The activation energies (Ea) for the formation of •CH3 and NH3 were determined to be 61.2 ± 1.0 and 42.1 ± 0.9 kJ mol-1, respectively, in the temperature range of 1400-2000 and 900-2400 °C. It was found that the formation of DMSA may have two different contributing routes, i.e., a concerted one (Ea = 33.6 ± 2.3 kJ mol-1) at lower temperatures of 900-1500 °C and a stepwise one (Ea = 155.0 ± 7.8 kJ mol-1) at higher temperatures of 2100-2400 °C. The secondary gas-phase reactions occurring in the Cat-CVD reactor environment were found to stem from two competing processes. The first one, free-radical short-chain reactions initiated by •CH3 formation and propagated by H abstraction reactions, is the dominating chemical process, producing many high-mass stable alkyl-substituted or silyl-substituted disilazane or trisilazane products via radical recombination reactions. Head-to-tail cycloaddition of unstable DMSA is the second contributing chemical process, which forms cyclodisilazane species. In addition, evidence was found for the conversion of NH3 into H2 and N2 in the Cat-CVD reactor.