Laser flash photolysis of SiCl4 at 193 nm was studied behind reflected shock waves at temperatures 1000 K
≤ T ≤ 2050 K and pressures between 1.4 and 1.8 bar. The atomic resonance absorption spectroscopy (ARAS)
was applied for time-resolved measurements of Si- and Cl-atom concentrations in gas mixtures containing
10−100 ppm SiCl4 highly diluted in argon. The atoms formed during photolysis of SiCl4 were analyzed in
terms of yields, defined as the fractions of the maximum atom concentration to the initial SiCl4 concentration
behind the shock wave. At temperatures 1000 ≤ T ≤ 1510 K, Cl atoms were detected immediately after the
laser flash. The Cl yield was found to be temperature dependent in the range between 0.1 and 2% of the
initial SiCl4 concentration. Si atoms first occurred at temperatures T > 1750 K, when SiCl4 already has
started to decompose. In contrast to Cl, the Si yield obtained correlates with both the temperature and the
delay time between the shock-induced gas heating and the laser pulse. This effect was attributed to the photolysis
of SiCl2, which is formed during the thermal decomposition of SiCl4. A reaction model including the thermal
dissociation of SiCl4 and the photodissociation of SiCl2 is suggested and discussed, in which also reactions
of Cl and Si atoms with SiCl4 are considered to describe the measured concentration profiles.