Abstract
The composition of thin, solid, silicon monoxide (SiO) films remains controversial despite numerous investigations (1-7). Structural studies of deposited films have led to conjecture as to whether SiO exists as a unique species in the solid state. Brewer and Greene (8) observed that an SiO condensate is metastable and has no temperature range of thermodynamic stability. Evaporated SiO films have been described in terms of unique species, such as SiO, Si2C3, Si, and SiC2, and also as a continuous distribution of suboxide species, SiOx, centered about SiO10. In the gas phase, spectroscopic evidence (9, 10) indicates that a monomeric species, SiO, does exist and is similar in electronic structure to gaseous carbon monoxide (11). The variability in SiO thin film composition is determined by film deposition parameters which include the evaporation rate, the source temperature, the substrate temperature, arid the pressure in the evaporating system (1, 4). SiO vapor condenses to form a solid product with an O:Si composition ratio equal to 1:1. © 1976, The Electrochemical Society, Inc. All rights reserved.