Gas-phase Ion Molecule Reactions In Monogermane-hydrocarbon Mixtures - A Comparative Fourier-transform Mass-spectrometry and Chemical Ionization Mass-spectrometry Study

The gas phase ion/mol. reactions of GeH4 with some simple satd. (CH4, C2H6) and unsatd. hydrocarbons (C2H2, C3H4, C3H6) were studied by high pressure mass spectrometry and Fourier transform mass spectrometry. The effects of the nature of the hydrocarbon and of the total pressure and the relative concns. of the reagent gases on the formation of Ge-C contg. ions are reported. Satd. hydrocarbons give only limited amts. of such species, whereas a variety of Ge-C contg. products are efficiently produced when alkenes or alkynes are added to germane. In these latter cases, GeCH3+ and GeCH5+ are among the most abundant products, invariably accompanied by ions contg. Ge, C and H in relative yields increasing with the hydrocarbon partial pressure. For all systems, the reaction pattern is presented and discussed in relation to the prepn. of amorphous Ge-C contg. materials for photovoltaic applications.