In-situ formation of SiC nanocrystals by high temperature annealing of SiO2/Si under CO: A photoemission study

► β-SiC nanocrystals are grown by high-T annealing of SiO2/Si samples under CO. ► The growth is studied in-situ by XPS and subsequently by electronic microscopy. ► The results reveal the formation of oxicarbide which was not previously observed. ► Based on this, we propose a new reaction equation between CO and SiO2/Si.