Implications of ion-molecule reactions observed in silane for recoil silicon atom studies

Ion-molecule reaction sequences in silane, producing tertiary product ions, are reported. A mechanism is presented by which trisilane can be producted from Si+ ions in recoil silicon studies. It is also reported that Si+ ions can be efficiently neutralized by charge exchange with triethylamine. Preliminary studies indicate that the addition of triethylamine to recoil silicon experiments results in a decrease in the absolute yield of trisilane without affecting the yields of other products. In addition, information obtained from ion-molecule studies in silane is applied to radiolysis studies of silane. A mechanism is presented by which higher homologues are produced by hydride ion transfer.