β-SiC nanorods have been synthesized by the reaction of SiO and carbon nano-capsules. For the synthesis of SiC nanorods, it was examined that the reaction temperature and the ratio of SiO to carbon nanocapsules are important and the most appropriate temperature and ratio are around 1380℃ and 5:2, respectively. The synthesized SiC nanorods were characterized by high-resolution electron microscopy. Most of the SiC nanorods are straight and have the diameter of 30-150 nm while the SiC tips of the SiC nanorods have the size 100-400 nm. The SiC nanorods have many stacking faults normal to the [111] direction. Each SiC nanorod has one kind of preferential axis direction, which is either parallel or normal to the [111] direction. Based on the microstructural analysis of the SiC nanorods, a possible growth mechanism of the SiC nanorods is proposed.

α-Si3N4 K15nanorods with 20-80 nm width were synthesized by carbothermal reduction of SiO with amorphous activated carbon (AAC) as a reductant. Microstructural characterization of the synthesized nanorods was carried out by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM)and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. Many Si3N4 nanorods were found to be twisted. Each twisted nanorod contained several straight Si3N4 parts. The straight parts had the rod axes orientated along the〈1010〉direction, which is the closest packing direction of a-Si3N4. There were two kinds of joints between the two adjacent straight Si3N4 parts. Formation mechanism of the Si3N4 nanorods is discussed.

A high-resolution electron microscopy study of β-SiC nanoparticles formed by C+-implantation of single crystal silicon with subsequent annealing has been carried out. The as-implanted sample had a trilayered structure, in which the surface layer, A, and the bottom layer, C, were crystalline but damaged, and the middle layer, B, was amorphous. After annealing this structure, β-SiC particles were formed throughout the trilayered structure but with different forms: a few epitaxial β-SiC nanoparticles in layers A and C, and more random nanoparticles in layer B. The β-SiC nanoparticles, in the size range 2-8nm, should be responsible for the blue-emitting effect of the silicon-based porous β-SiC

SiC nanorods with a needle-like shape have been synthesized by carbothermal reduction of SiO at 1410℃, where the reductant is highly curled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) containing Fe nanoparticles approximately 10nm in size. Each SiC nanorod has a rounded Fe–Si single crystalline tip 120-250 nm in size and a sharp SiC tip approximately 10nmin size. Along the nanorod axis, the diameter decreases gradually from approximately 100 nm on the Fe-Sitip side to approximately 10nm on the sharp SiC tip. A revised vapor-liquid-solid mechanism from Wagner's mechanism is proposed to explain the formation of the SiC nanorods.

Large yield of β-Ga2O3 nanorods with metal Ga tip were efficiently synthesized. They were deposited on surface of amorphous C fibers by decomposition of Ga2O vapor at around 1000℃, where Ga2O vapor was produced at 1360℃ by a reaction between pure Ga2O3 and active carbon powders. The nanorods had diameters ranging from 10 to 100 nm and lengths of up to several tens micrometers. Twins and edge dislocations having a Burgers vector of 0.0859 Å @2.66, 3.66, 1] existed in the nanorods. A redshift of 4-23 cm-1 was found in the Raman scattering spectrum of nanorods compared with that of a pure Ga2O3 powder. This phenomenon was explained qualitatively in terms of the defects in the nanorods.