Characteristics of pulsed plasma-chemical synthesis of silicon dioxide nanoparticles

• We show the fundamental possibility of synthesis of nanosized SiO2 of required size.
• Decreasing of SiCl4 will decrease geometric size of particle, but not morphology.
• Addition of a buffer gas in the mixture will decrease the average particle size.
• Increasing the action of the electron beam will increase geometric size of the SiO2.

This paper investigates the effect of plasma-chemical synthesis modes of nanosized silicon dioxide initiated by a pulsed electron beam on the geometric size distribution of the product nanoparticles. Findings show that the particles are enlarged following multiple exposures to a pulsed electron beam. Meanwhile, when adding a buffer gas into the initial mixture, the size of the particles decreases.