Growth of faceted SiC nanostructures using vapor phase condensation: Microstructural analysis

The paper emphasizes the morphological and microstructural analysis of SiC nanostructures grown by thermal plasma assisted gas phase condensation process. High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopic and Selected Area Electron Diffraction studies are used to analyze the growth directions and the polytypic arrangement with stacking faults in the as synthesized SiC nanoparticles. The results help in understanding the hierarchical poly-types related to the observed geometries and showed the presence of both α- and β-SiC polytypes. The microstructural study is supported by X-Ray diffraction and UV-Visible absorption spectroscopic studies.