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.