SiH4 decomposition initial pyrolysis reaction

The initial pyrolysis reaction of SiH4 has been explored extensively (98), and the growing consensus is that the thermal decomposition of SiH4 involves the elimination of H2 to form silylene, as shown in equation 1 (98, 101). Possibly, thermal pyrolysis is controlled by heterogeneous reactions on hot surfaces (102, 103), but this hypothesis is controversial, and considerable experimental evidence for a gas decomposition mechanism exists (98). However, at low pressures and high temperatures, heterogeneous decomposition will likely be important in the overall mechanism (104). 

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