Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
α-Si3N4 whiskers were formed from laser-synthesized nanoscale amorphous Si-N-C powders at 1873K under 1 atm N2. The as-formed whiskers were characterized by TEM, STEM, XRD techniques and the process conditions for the whisker growth were studied. The whiskers exhibit various morphologies such as the long thick straight, the prismatic, the ribbon-like, and knuckled whiskers. The gas phase reaction among N2, SiO, and CO gases leads to Si3N4 whisker growth on the pre-crystallized α-Si3N4 grains by the Vapor-Solid (VS) mechanism along specific crystal planes such as {1101}., which ensures an in-situ formation. No addition of other catalyst and the atomic combination of the elements in the Si-N-C powders ensure a high purity of the whiskers.