Stoichiometry and possible mechanism of SiH4O2 explosions

Abstract The products of silaneO 2 mixture explosions vary with mixture composition. For O 2 -rich mixtures (>70% O 2 ), the products are H 2 O and SiO 2 . As the mixtures become richer in silane, H 2 replaces H 2 O as a final product. For very SiH 4 -rich mixtures (>70% SiH 4 ), the products are H 2 , SiO x , and Si. The fact that silane is totally consumed in silane-rich mixtures (70–90% silane) demonstrates that solid particle formation (SiO 2 , SiO, and Si) occurs very rapidly and that the accompanying heat release is essential to drive the reactions to completion. It is also clear that the explosion of a silane-rich mixture is primarily a thermal explosion of silane. Effects due to problems associated with upper pressure limit measurements and mechanistic aspects of the SiH 4 O 2 explosion reaction are discussed.