Abstract: Microstructure of β-SiC whiskers with differ- ent cross-sections perpendicular to their growing direction was studied in detail by transmission elec- tron microscopy (TEM).It was indicated that there were three types of cross-sections:round, hexagonal and trigonal.The whiskers with round and hexagonal cross-sections had a high density of planar faults lying on the (111) close packed planes perpendicular to the whisker axis.There existed a few stacking faults on the other {111} planes in some hexagonal whiskers.The whiskers with bicrystals were also found in hexagonal whiskers. The microstructure of trigonal SiC whiskers was basically perfect but there were a few intrinsic stack- ing faults on the (11) planes (mostly) and (111) planes.The characters of electron diffraction pat- terns of β-SiC whiskers with different cross-sec- tions were reasonably analyzed using a reciprocal space model with continuous diffraction streaks along the [111] reciprocal direction.

Key words: microstructure, SiC whiskers, TEM