Synthesis of silicon nitride whiskers by microwave heating

Whiskers of silicon nitride were synthesized by heating silicon powder compacts, silicon single crystal and polycrystalline silicon in microwave in the presence of flowing forming gas or nitrogen. Various gas compositions and form of silicon used resulted in different whisker morphologies. Silicon powder as starting material leads to the formation of needle-like whiskers while silicon single crystal and polycrystalline silicon led to the formation of wool-like and web-like structures respectively. Length of the whiskers apparently depends on the holding time at the optimum temperature approx. 1350°C; whiskers up to 250 micrometers in length may be grown in 30 minutes. Microstructural data suggest that the silicon nitride whiskers form through gas-solid reaction and vapor-solid mechanism.