Structural study of SiC nano-powders synthesized by laser pyrolysis and by inductively coupled plasma pyrolysis

The use of nano-structured SiC ceramics in the framework of the development of generation IV nuclear reactors provides interesting outlooks. To prepare such materials, it is necessary to synthesize nano-metric powders in significant quantities and with a controlled stoichiometry. The laser pyrolysis and inductively coupled plasma pyrolysis techniques developed at the CEA and at the EMPA respectively, allow to obtain these powders. In this work, are presented the results obtained on three powder batches synthesized by plasma and two batches prepared by laser and characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and elementary chemical analysis. The nano-powders are crystallized in cubic phase in a range of grain sizes of 5 to 50 nm, with a stoichiometry controlled by the parameters of the synthesis. (O.M.)