Synthesis of amorphous silicon carbide nanoparticles in a low temperature low pressure plasma reactor

Commercial scale production of silicon carbide (SiC) nanoparticles smaller than 10 nm remains a significant challenge. In this paper, a microwave plasma reactor and appropriate reaction conditions have been developed for the synthesis of amorphous SiC nanoparticles. This continuous gas phase process is amenable to large scale production use and utilizes the decomposition of tetramethylsilane (TMS) for both the silicon and the carbon source. The influence of synthesis parameters on the product characteristics was investigated. The as-prepared SiC particles with sizes between 4 and 6 nm were obtained from the TMS precursor in a plasma operated at low temperature and low precursor partial pressure (0.001-0.02 Torr) using argon as the carrier gas (3 Torr). The carbon:silicon ratio was tuned by the addition of hydrogen and characterized by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The reaction mechanism of SiC nanoparticle formation in the microwave plasma was investigated by mass spectroscopy of the gaseous products.