By microwave heating at about 1200 T and holding for 15 min, a new route was proposed to prepare alpha-SiC particles, using silicon, graphite and aluminum powders as starting materials in a N-2-Ar atmosphere. Both Al and N-2 have played important roles in the synthesis of alpha-SiC by the formation of an AIM heterogeneous nuclei. Si-C atomic layers replicated the structure of the in-situ synthesized hexagonal AlN nuclei, then alpha-SiC particles formed under microwave activation. The maximum productivity of alpha-SIC particles in the synthesized products was 68 wt.%. This simple method could effectively reduce energy and time consumption in contrast to the traditional process for the synthesis of alpha-SiC. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.