摘要： Microwave heating is known to provide extremely rapid synthesis of silicon carbide (SiC) from mixtures of silicon and carbon powders. The formation mechanism has long been considered to be a solid-state reaction among the powders in the mixture. Here, we present a new reaction mechanism via a gas-phase route. We have confirmed successful synthesis of ￠-SiC powder by microwave-heating of a small amount of Si powder that was entered into a quartz tube and then embedded in graphite powder, although no direct contact between the Si and graphite powders was allowed. Scanning electron microscopy observations revealed that the ￠-SiC powder was formed by direct carbonization of the Si powder. Since the atmosphere during the reaction comprises a vast majority of carbon monoxide (CO) gas according to the Boudouard equilibrium, the carbonization appears to have taken place via the CO gas. The contribution of such a gas-phase reaction could account in part for the rapidity of the microwave-heating reactions reported so far, which can hardly be explained solely by solid-state reactions among the mixed powders.