Morphology and Stacking Faults of β‐Silicon Carbide Whisker Synthesized by Carbothermal Reduction

The main formation reaction for whisker that has been synthesized from SiO 2 and carbon black (CB) in a hydrogen‐gas atmosphere was a solid–gas reaction between SiO and CB. The synthesized whiskers were classified into three types, in terms of the morphology, growth direction, and stacking‐fault planes: (i) type A, which has a relatively flat surface and the stacking‐fault planes are perpendicular to the growth direction; (ii) type B, which has a rough surface and the stacking‐fault planes are inclined at an angle of 35° to the growth direction; and (iii) type C, which has a rough sawtooth surface and the stacking faults exist concurrently in three different {111} planes. The observed angles in the deflected and branched whiskers were 125°, 70°, and 109°. These whiskers were composed of mixtures of type A and type B, type A only, or parallel growth by two pairs of type A and type B whiskers. The whisker deflection was closely related to the difference in the growth speed of each type of whisker.