Quantum chemical study of silicon oxide surface reaction with (poly)silane

We have performed a quantum chemical study of the deposition of SiH, and Si,H, and found that these gases are more easily decomposed on the surface of SiO, than by themselves. Moreover, although the bond energy of Si-H (89.4 kcal/mol) is larger than that of Si-Si (72.7 kcal/mol), the Si-H bond is more easily broken with the activation energy (IT,) of 39.0 kcal/mol than the Si-Si bond with E, of 53.7 kcal/mol on the SiO, surface. These high reactivities of (poly)silane with SiO, surface agree qualitatively well with the experimental observation.