Scanning tunneling microscopy investigations of silicon carbide nanowires

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images have been obtained from the surfaces of silicon carbide nanowires produced in the thermolysisinduced carbonization of halocarbons (combustion synthesis). The morphology of the nanowires shows trench-like features perpendicular to the fibres’ axis, which isassigned tothe existence of microfacets ontheirsidewalls. Forthefirsttimehigh-resolutionSTM imagesof theSiCnanowires are presented. The results are in agreement with the previous reports suggesting the presence of microfacets on the SiC whiskers’ surface. # 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.