Light scattering diagnostics of silicon particle growth in CO2 laser-driven reactions

In this work, we report an experimentally simple method for probing the silicon particle size evolution during the CO2 laser-induced pyrolysis of silane in a flow reactor, based on scattering of He-Ne laser light by a particulate in the reaction flame. The scattering and extinction measurements have been used to measure nucleation and growth kinetics of silicon powders within the reaction zone. The experience gained by this technique allowed synthesis of silicon particles with a wide size range