Conventional pyrolysis of [CCSiMe2CCGeMe2]n polymer precursor for Si/Ge/C materials

Synthesis and subsequent conventional pyrolysis of polymer precursor [CCSiMe2CCGeMe2]n (n ∼ 12) is reported. Fourier transformed IR and thermogravimetry analyses revealed that heating of the polymer precursor to 300 °C led to the cross-linking and partially to germanium separation in the cast films. Triple CC bonds transform into sp3 carbon structure and GeC bonds break to form new GeH ones. Increasing of temperature to 700 and 1100 °C resulted in dehydrogenation and gradually germanium evaporation from films as showed by EDX. As a result, at 1100 °C Si/C films were prepared with embedded regions of germanium.