Photospheric silicon abundances of upper main-sequence stars derived from Si II 6347/6371 doublet lines

Abstract: Silicon abundances were determined by applying the spectrum-fitting technic to the Si II doublet lines at 6347 and 6371A for a sample of 120 main-sequence stars in the T_eff range of ~7000-14000K (comprising not only normal stars but also non-magnetic chemically peculiar stars) with an aim of investigating their behaviors (e.g., correlation with stellar parameters and abundances of other elements such as Fe or C) and the background physical mechanisms involved therein, where attention was paid to taking into account of the non-LTE effect and to assigning a reasonable value of microturbulence. The following trends were revealed from the analysis: (i) The resulting [Si/H] values, mostly ranging from ~-0.5 to ~+0.3, show a positive correlation with [Fe/H]. (ii) A kind of anti-correlation exists between Si and C as seen from the tendency of [C/Si] steeply decreasing with [Si/H]. (iii) Si abundances do not show any clear dependence upon T_eff or vsini, while Am and HgMn stars appear to show comparatively higher [Si/H] than normal stars. Although it is not straightforward to explain these observational facts, different physical processes (gas-dust separation and atomic diffusion) are likely to be intricately involved in producing these characteristic behaviors of Si composition in the surface of late A through late B dwarfs.