SiO Molecules Research Articles

Reduction of Silica in a Hydrogen Discharge

IT is well known that silica can be reduced by carbon at temperatures of the order of 1,600°–2,000° C, to yield the volatile silicon monoxide. Among other reported methods for reducing silica the use of silicon at 1,000°–1,300° C at pressures of 10−4–10−5 mm1, or at 1,600° C and atmospheric pressure2, appears to be effective. The existence of the SiO molecule in vapour form is well established from spectroscopic data, and when the vapour condenses the deposits formed consist of mixtures, dispersions or possibly solutions of silicon and SiO2. Such deposits, because they are readily obtained as thin, hard, transparent layers which are highly resistant to chemical attack, have been used as coatings for optical surfaces, in electrical capacitors, solar cells, etc.

A 1Σ−–3Πr SPECTRUM OF SiO

A new 1Σ−–3Πr (case a) spectrum is identified in the region 4200–4300 Å for the SiO molecule. The rotational analysis of the spectrum gives the following constants for the lower and upper states in cm−1.[Formula: see text]A discussion of electron configurations is given.